The Corridors of a Twisted Mind
by ben10987654321
Summary: A collection of my stranger ideas. Moving into Multiple X-Overs.
1. Prologue

**The Corridors of a Twisted Mind**

Prologue

_You're travelling through another dimension - a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone!_

_You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... the Twilight Zone._

_There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call "The Twilight Zone"._

_There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits._

The above paragraphs are quotes from familiar popular tv shows and are also a way to give an impression of what will be included in this collection of short stories.

This will be a place where I can collect together my stranger ideas from the twisted corridors of my mind. They will be AU and probably OOC but it will be a good outlet and a way to stop them clogging up my head. I'm sure there will be plot holes you can drive a truck through but regardless I hope you enjoy them.

INDEX.

Chapter 1: **Glory-ous Alliance.** A Clark/Glory pairing. Clark's life has been destroyed and he is being hunted. On the run he meets a powerful woman who teaches him a very different approach to life.

Chapter 2:** Clash of Spikes.** A Spike/Doomsday pairing. Spike meets some namesakes...sort of.

Chapter 3: **Shared Delusions.** A Clark/Buffy pairing. Set during Normal Again; While in the mental hospital Buffy meets a fellow patient. Set during Labyrinth; While in the mental hospital Clark meets a fellow patient.

Chapter 4: **Glory-ous Victory.** A follow-up to Glory-ous Alliance. Glory is free of Ben and has Kal by her side. How does that affect the outcome of her battle with the Slayer?

Chapter 5: **Keys, Wishes and Tuesdays Don't Mix.** Dawn makes a wish on a Tuesday. You'd think she learn by now. Set during Season 7.

Chapter 6: **Wedded Bliss...Interrupted. **The wedding of Clark and Lois. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Two women choose to speak now.

Chapter 7: **Glory-ous New Beginnings. **3rd in my Glory-ous series. In the immediate aftermath of her defeat of the Slayer Glory reveals her true plans.

Chapter 8: **After-effects. **Buffy's Halloween costume choice has after-effects for both her and the person she dressed up as.

Chapter 9: **Death Can Be A Kindness. **On Halloween Buffy wears the dress of someone who truly knows what Hell is.

Chapter 10: **Glory vs Jasmine. **Set in the Glory-ous verse. It should be epic...it's really not.

Chapter 11: **Hidden Self. **One of the Avengers isn't who they claim to be and Dr Doom is going to prove it.

Chapter 12: **Glory-ous**** New Universe. **Two strangers will change the SG-1 Universe forever.

**The Unfinished Chronicles...**

Chapter 13: **The Wrong Destination. **Carol Danvers' first day as an Agent of SWORD is rather interesting.

Chapter 14: **The Wrong Path. **History has been altered and Clark Kent has fallen down the wrong path. Now a criminal is he destined to forever be the perennial bad guy or can he yet find his way back to his true calling?

Chapter 15: **Another Generation. **Set in my Superman Returns verse. Tales of love and adventure as Superman and Wonder Woman's children follow in their parents' footsteps and become heroes.


	2. Glory-ous Alliance

Chapter 1: Glory-ous Alliance

Summary: Clark's life has been destroyed and he is being hunted. On the run he meets a powerful woman who teaches him a very different approach to life.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: If you are placing this in the canon of both shows it would be after Shadow for BTVS and for Smallville it would be season 6 roughly although it is not perfectly in sync with canon. Like I said in the prologue this is AU and OOC.

* * *

><p>How the mighty have fallen.<p>

Urgh!

She is reduced to quoting human sayings.

Her.

Glory. Glorificus. The Beast. The Abomination. Even occasionally The One who Cannot be Named. And a hundred other names she couldn't care less about.

Her true name...well this pathetic human tongue she is currently cursed with couldn't even pronounce it.

Glory looks down at the drink that currently sits on the bar of this little hovel of a drinking establishment. Yes. This is how far she has fallen. Stupid Slayer. Killing her beloved little snake-demon pet. Keeping her Key from her meaning she is facing the real risk of...of...growing old!

'I'll get wrinkles!' she thinks with disgust at the very idea.

All she wants is to go home. Is that too much to ask? Sure the entire planet will be destroyed in the process. Well maybe not the whole planet only a large proportion of it but Earth is a crummy little planet anyway. No-one would miss it especially not her.

Well maybe she would miss the shopping malls but that's it.

'What the hell am I doing here?' Glory asks herself. How is one of the most powerful Hell Gods to ever live reduced to drowning her sorrows with something that doesn't even affect her in the first place?

Stupid Slayer!

And before the Slayer it was those blasted monks' fault for hiding her Key from her.

Then before that it was her so-called brethren back in her home dimension who defeated her and imprisoned her in this meat sack otherwise known as Ben rendering her mortal.

Now you can see why Glory has this urge to drink.

At that moment another person walks in needing a drink to forget his problems. He is a tall young man with dark hair and blue eyes. He shares a couple of things in common with Glory. Alcohol has no effect on him and like her he happens to be superstrong, superfast and invulnerable.

His name is Clark Kent and he is in Sunnydale in an attempt to get far away from Kansas. He could obviously go further than California if he wished but he isn't planning on leaving permanently. He just needs some time to think about what to do next.

He sits down next to this blond woman that he really barely glances at and orders a drink just to blend in.

Why is Clark here?

Because to be blunt his life has been utterly destroyed. You see back home in Smallville there was a girl he loved called Lana Lang only his refusal to tell her the truth of his origins had driven her away into the arms of another man. His once upon a time friend Lex Luthor. They were going to get married in fact so in an act of desperation Clark had decided to tell Lana everything in the hope she would choose him.

Worst mistake he has ever made.

Lana went and told Lex everything and the two of them set about destroying Clark's life and succeeding he might add.

His parents were dead. Caught in the crossfire as Lex tried to capture him and stick him in a lab to be dissected.

Clark did end up in that lab thanks to the fact he told Lana his weakness to kryptonite. Chloe, Lois and Pete saved him at the cost of their lives and ever since then Clark had been running and this is where he has ended up.

So lost in this introspection is Clark that he hasn't even noticed how many non-human creatures are in this bar. Some of whom have mistaken both him and Glory as human interlopers in their bar.

A male vampire decides to be the one to confront Glory. He grabs her by the shoulder roughly. "We don't care for your kind in here human," he hisses.

Glory takes the vamp's hand and proceeds to crush every bone in it. He recoils holding his shattered hand as Glory swings round in her seat before standing up and looking at the vampire with as much contempt as she is capable of and that's a lot. "Listen to me cockroach. I just came in here for a nice quiet drink and then you have the gall to call me a...a...human," she says with utter disgust that she would be called that. "On the plus side tearing you apart with my bare hands just might make me feel better."

In movement so fast the vamp can't react before Glory's hand is around his throat squeezing and squeezing until the vamp's head literally pops off and he turns to dust. Glory smiles at the other demons with a sinister glee in her expression. "Whose next?"

Now Clark supposes as he watches the woman literally put her fist through one of the inhuman creatures' head that he should step in but considering his life has more or less come to an end recently he finds he just can't seem to summon up the energy to care or to care about what all these creatures are.

Well he can't seem to care until he spots one of the group sneak up on the blond woman from behind and the inherent dogooder in him urges him to take action. In a blur of motion he has grabbed her attacker and thrown him over the bar.

"Hey!" Glory snarls and moves to stand toe-to-toe with Clark. "Did I ask for your help?" she asks looking at Clark like something she stepped in.

The Clark of old would have just let that slide off of him but that Clark hasn't been around for several days. "Would a 'thank you' kill you?"

"I'm a God," she states with total sincere smug superiority. "Gods don't do 'Thank yous'."

"Do they do 'Watch out behind you'?"

Glory frowns for the one second before a bottle is smashed over her head and its contents drip down all over her and onto her dress. "My dress!" she shrieks. Her hand go up to her hair. "My hair!" She spins round on the spot and glares at the demon who did that. "You dare!" she hisses. "Do you know how long it took me to do my hair? Do you?"

The demon backs up shaking its head actually afraid about what is going to happen.

"And this dress? Do you know who I had to kill to get this dress?" Glory asks, her voice dripping with venom.

The demon shakes its head some more just before a couple more plow into Glory from the side. "Get off of me you rotten sacks of flesh!" she screeches.

Clark zips forward, grabs them and tosses them away. A second later he is being met with a right to his face that sends him sailing out through the wall of the bar to the outside. To Glory's surprise a few seconds later he is back standing in front of her his eyes glowing a dull red. 'Huh,' she thinks to herself. 'That is kind of attractive.'

"What was that for?" Clark asks, his voice clipped and his anger barely in check at the fact she hit him and what's more it really hurt.

"I told you I don't need help."

"You know I've had a really bad couple of weeks."

Glory scoffs. "I've had a bad couple of decades being trapped on this dirt-ball of a planet. Your pathetic little problems can't compare to mine."

"You are the most arrogant condescending woman I have ever met you know that."

"First off I'm not a woman. I'm a God. Second off no-one talks to me that way! Certainly not some pathetic meat-sack of a human being." Glory draws her fist back and throws it only to find it caught with equal strength. Her eyes widen for a moment in surprise.

Clark cocks his head. "Make a note for future reference. I'm not human!" Clark then does something he would never do and hits the woman very hard doing to her what she did to him and sending her sailing through the wall to the outside.

In a few seconds Glory has blurred back her eyes burning with rage. "That hurt!" she yells in surprise and anger.

"Good," Clark says dryly.

Glory's anger rises further. "You insolent little..."

Her words are cut off when both she and Clark are ambushed by the remaining demons in the bar.

During the course of fighting them off and fighting each other to a stand still the bar ends up totalled. Then for reasons beyond either of them they end up sharing stories as they sit amongst the ruins sharing some of the remaining bottles of beer that weren't smashed.

"So an actual Hell God?" Clark asks Glory to confirm.

"You bet and you. An actual alien?"

"Yes."

Glory shrugs. Not really a startling revelation to one such as her and truth be told he wasn't completely insufferable. Of course if he hadn't proven himself worthy by fighting her to a standstill she would have killed him by now. Well in fact she did try several times. Even when she hurt him the wounds kept healing over. Fighting him to the finish could well take days and as much fun as she would usually find that she wasn't in the mood.

"Well Sport as much as I would love to kill you I have my Key to find and a Slayer to rip apart with my bare hands," Glory informs him as she gets to her feet. "And you know for all the crap you've been through I would offer you sympathy or something but Gods don't do sympathy."

Clark manages a half-smile, the first thing approaching a smile since this whole thing started. Then a sudden idea strikes him. One he would never have considered before but since he has lost everything he finds himself considering it now. "Gods may not do sympathy but do they do deals?"

Glory looks at him curiously. "What are you on about?"

Clark gets to his feet and Glory admits she finds it a little disconcerting to have to look up at him because he is taller. "I mean we both have a problem. You can help me with mine and I can help you with yours."

"I told you..."

"Yeah. Yeah. You don't need help but what if I could offer you a way to free yourself from this Ben."

That catches Glory's attention. "Continue."

"I know of a substance that can split you into two separating you from him."

Free of Ben? That is what Glory dreams of. "What do you want in return?"

Clark replies in a very un-Clark Kent fashion, "Revenge on those that destroyed my life."

Glory grins. Nothing beats a little bloody revenge. She holds her hand out. "You've got yourself a deal."

Clark takes her hand and they shake on it.

"Jinx!" Glory yells and what comes running is a scabby hobgoblin-like demon in brown robes.

Jinx bows in Glory's presence. "Yes oh most Glorious Champion of Bar Brawls."

Glory rolls her eyes. "Right. Whatever. Go home and start packing. We're going on a road trip."

"Yes Mistress," Jinx grovels.

"And find me someone to snack on!" she demands because she can already feel Ben creeping back in at the edges of her consciousness. She needs to drain someone to keep him and the insanity at bay.

* * *

><p>Smallville.<p>

The Luthor Mansion.

In his study Lex is looking over reports to see if there is any sign of Clark. He can't believe he called that...alien...thing his friend. He is also rather annoyed that Clark managed to escape him. In the end it didn't matter because he would track Clark down. He had already dealt with all those who protected Clark or could save him so next time Lex catches him Clark will be staying put in that lab.

Suddenly gunfire from outside catches Lex's attention. Can't be Clark. Two reasons why. Clark would never be that bold and second Lex made sure to equip all his men with the meteor rock. Lex himself wears a signet ring made out of one and he made a ring for Lana to wear as well.

Lex listens as the gunfire moves inside the mansion and there are sound of fighting and men screaming horribly. Lex grabs his gun out of his desk draw and gets it ready.

Gunfire right outside his door just before the door explodes by having one of his guards thrown through it.

Lex blinks as the dust clears and in to his office steps a blond woman with a maniacal grin and a look in her eye as her gaze falls upon him like she is staring at a bug she is about to squash. "Well hello there Baldy. You'll be Lex I'm guessing."

Lex aims his gun at her. The woman rolls her eyes theatrically. "Seriously I just killed and ate my way through a small army and you think that little thing is going to save you." She shakes her head. "And he said you were smart. Well perhaps you are for a human but compared to me all that makes you is a smart ant."

Before Lex can register it the woman is standing next to him. He starts to move but she grabs him by his throat, rips the gun from his hand and tosses it aside. Her eyes then fall on his left hand where the meteor rock ring sits upon his finger.

She grabs his finger and lifts his hand up. Lex sees no reaction from the stone. She is not like Clark despite appearances.

She smirks. "So this is the little thing that is causing my partner all the problems," she remarks as she observes it.

"Clark..." Lex manages to choke out as a guess at who the woman is talking about.

"It's purely a business arrangement," she tells him the instant before she rips the ring off and Lex's entire finger with it.

Lex cries out in despite of his attempt not to show weakness.

"Let me go you alien freak!" a voice demands as it draws nearer. A voice belonging to Lana as she is dragged into the office by her arm.

Lex looks at her captor with hate and disgust. "Clark..." he manages to choke out the word again.

"Hello Lex," Clark says coldly. He then looks at Glory. "Can you allow him to speak?" he requests.

Glory shrugs in a bored gesture. "Whatever," she says as she drops Lex.

Lex reaches for his throat and gasps for breath. Lana tries to run to him but Clark keeps his grip on her arm. Luckily when he found her she had just finished having a bath and she had taken her kryptonite ring off allowing him to capture her easily.

"No," Clark tells Lana. "You're just going to watch this next bit."

"I hate you!" Lana screams at him with pure hatred and disgust. After he told her what he was she needed to shower and scrub herself repeatedly to get rid of the dirty feeling that she had ever allowed an alien creature to be intimate with her.

Clark looks down at her. "I loved you," he tells her sincerely. "And you betrayed me and allowed my parents and friends to die. In fact you stood there and watched so now I'm going to do the same to you as you stand here and watch Lex die."

Lex gets back to his feet. "Clark Kent doesn't do that."

Clark looks at Lex, his gaze hard and cold. "Clark Kent died. You killed him. You took everything he had away from him. Everything...except a chance at revenge."

Lex stands straight. "Then kill me Clark," he dares his former friend. "Your harlot here has stripped me of my defence."

Clark shakes his head and tuts tuts. "You should be more respectful there Lex. That's a Hell God you're talking about."

Lex glances at her and now sees in her eyes something truly inhuman. More so than Clark.

"Harlot!" Glory screeches. "Time to die!"

"No!" Clark stops her.

Glory frowns and shoots Clark the glare of death.

"Don't kill him. I don't want him to die...exactly. Lex holds his intellect, his genius, his ego above all else. I want you to take it away from him. I want him to spend the rest of his life as a gibbering vegetable."

Glory smiles as she understands what it is Clark wants her to do. "You know I'm almost starting to like you."

"Gee thanks," Clark says dryly.

Lex has no idea what either of them are talking about as the woman raises her hands towards his head and then her fingers are penetrating his skull. Indescribable pain shoots through him and then Lex starts to feel a drain as his sanity fades away. In the moment before the last of it fades he mentally screams 'No' in disbelief and horror as he figures out what Clark has done is the ultimate revenge.

Lana watches on in horror as the blond woman extracts her fingers from Lex's head and he falls to the ground before curling up in a ball and rocking back and forth gibbering nonsense.

"Hmm. Tasty," Glory says with an erotic sounding moan.

"Your turn Lana," Clark announces as he drags her towards Glory.

Lana tries to fight it but she may as well be trying to stop an oil tanker. It isn't going to happen. "Clark please," she pleads, tears in her eyes. It no longer works on Clark.

"Clark?" he queries puzzled. "Clark's dead. Thanks to you. There is only Kal-El now."

Kal-El then holds Lana still by both arms as Glory steps forward and penetrates her fingers into Lana's skull. In a few seconds it is over as Lana joins Lex on the floor gibbering nonsence.

Kal-El lets out a breath and finds amazingly he doesn't feel as guilty as he thinks he should. These last couple of weeks have changed him forever.

"Kal-El," Glory repeats the name. "Not bad sounding," she comments.

"If you prefer you can call me Kal for short," he tells her.

Glory looks at him dead in the eye. "I know your weakness. I can kill you," she states plainly.

"Go ahead," he says flatly.

Glory looks deep into his blue eyes for several seconds. "No," she decides. "Because all I can do is kill your physical form. Inside you are already dead aren't you." She looks down at Lex and Lana. "They killed you."

Glory almost feels jealous. Tearing someone down before you kill them is so much more satisfying that the simple act itself. Then she reminds herself that as a God she doesn't do jealousy. "Now I have upheld my part of our deal," she points out. Her part being to do what Clark couldn't and deal with all of Lex's security. "It's time you held up yours."

Kal moves to the bookshelf on the wall, grabs hold of it and rips it off and the safe door it was concealing. He steps back several feet as the safe room is full of kryptonite. He tosses the door aside and looks inside. He points at a particular object on a shelf. "The black rock. Pick it up," he instructs her.

Glory looks at him and then at the rock. She steps inside and looks at it some more. It doesn't seem all that special to her. If he has lied to her she will kill him. She reaches out and picks the black rock up. Glory lets out a gasp as a strange surge of energy fills her being before fading away.

"Is that it?" she asks incredulously because as far as she can tell nothing happened.

"Look behind you."

Glory turns round and there lying on the floor unconscious is a human male named Ben. "I'm free," Glory says in a whisper almost unable to believe it.

Kal kept his word. Black kryptonite which splits a person into their ying and yang to coin a well used metaphor.

Glory steps back out into the study feeling giddy. She's free and now that she's free of her meat prison it means the spell that cursed her is broken and she can feel the rush as her Godly powers begin to return. She'll be a true God again. She'll be immortal again. Once her powers fully return she'll be able to shed this form finally and resume her true one.

Glory laughs. A joyous giddy laugh. She ends up twirling on the spot in her joy. Then to as much her surprise as Kal's she grabs his face and kisses him passionately. It takes Kal's breath away.

When Glory pulls back Kal sees she is smiling and looking at him with a predatory glint in her eye. Not the 'I'm going to kill you' look. The 'I'm going to screw your brains out' look.

Blame the high caused by the return of her powers. Glory will be if anyone finds out about this but she just suddenly feels incredibly aroused and amongst her kind that fight she and Kal had back in Sunnydale would be considered foreplay. Her hand reaches under Clark's shirt and her fingers glide across the hard chiselled plains underneath.

A groan from Ben interrupts Glory's ministrations. "Jinx!" she screams.

Jinx and a few others of the same species who live to only serve Glory run in. "Yes oh Splendiferous Deliverer of Vengeance."

She points at Ben. "Take old Benjy boy out of here," she commands.

Two of her minions rush in and pick Ben up. As they do so Glory adds "And keep him alive for the time being. I have plans for him."

"Our lives would be meaningless without your commands to follow oh Great Glorificus," Jinx says grovellingly which means that yes they will do as told.

Glory than waves a hand vaguely in Lex and Lana's direction. "You can throw those two pieces of trash away as well. Let them live but get rid of them and then make sure I'm not disturbed."

Jinx and the others bow before carrying out her orders.

During this whole time Glory has not taken her eyes off Clark or stopped her ministrations under his shirt. Her fingers brush across a nipple and there is a sharp intake of breath. "Since I'm a God who doesn't do subtly I will just tell you now that I'm planning to fuck you until you can't walk and then I'll fuck you twice as hard. You got a problem with this?"

Clark Kent would have but he's dead and Kal has spent the last couple of weeks in a numb shock. With everything that happened he hadn't had time to grieve so to cope he did the opposite and shut his feelings down. He wants to feel but he doesn't want to feel the terrible pain of grief and loss for his parents or his friends and Glory...God he can feel even her gentlest touch. He can't feel that when a human touches him.

So Kal decides he wants to feel what Glory is offering him. "No. I don't have a problem with this," he tells her before crushing her lips with his own.

* * *

><p>Glory stretches deliciously sore, tired and overused muscles. Considering the piece of crap this planet is she didn't think there was anyone on this world worthy or hell short of that even someone who could survive a mating with her. Therefore it had been a really long time and the last time was back in her home dimension when she inhabited her true form. Humans may be disgusting insects but she had found the experience of sex in a human form was actually more pleasurable than her native one. It helps that the man she found was nearly as strong as she was and was well-endowed.<p>

She sits up amongst the ruins of what was the master bedroom of the mansion. Her and Kal-El's coupling had destroyed the room. They had practically destroyed the whole mansion in the past few days and yes she said days. Like she said it had been a long time and she had a lot of pent-up sexual frustrations. Not so much now.

Speaking of Kal he was standing in front of the shattered window as the sun peeked over the horizon and flooded in. Glory looks at him as the sun practically makes his naked form glow. She licks her lips as her eyes drink him in. By human standards he was gorgeous. As for her she found his appearance not displeasing.

She gracefully gets to her feet, moves to him, wraps her arms around him and starts to nibble at his ear as a not so subtle invitation for him to continue what they have been doing.

Kal closes his eyes as Glory nibbles at his ear and barely bites back a pleasurable moan. If he had any doubt she was a God the last few days had dispelled them. She seemed insatiable and had taxed him to his limits and beyond frankly. Thankfully the sun will recharge him soon enough. The sex had been incredible if he is being honest. He chose to give himself to feeling pleasure and he did. It was pure animalistic sex without restraint of any kind.

Before Glory had gotten up Kal had finally had a few minutes to think about what has happened. To think about what he did, what he allowed to happen, what he has spent the past few days doing and he knows Jonathan and Martha Kent would never have approved of any of it. That is not the person they raised.

"What's the matter?" Glory asks, annoyed that he is ignoring her. She is a God and Gods don't get ignored.

Like when they first met Kal finds himself telling her everything. He doesn't know why.

Glory audibly groans. Being raised by humans had obviously been a detrimental influence. If she is going to allow him to be her lover she'll have to do something about this. She moves to stand in front of him. "Now you listen to me. You are almost as far above humans as I am. Their so called morals and ethics don't apply to us. We don't obey rules. We make them."

She can see his brow knot together in a frown.

Glory continues her diatribe. "What did following their rules get you?" she asks him before answering her own question for him. "It got the humans who raised you dead. It got the ones you called your friends dead. It ended up with you running away like a weak pathetic scared human." She pauses just to give it a moment to sink in. "Now look what happened when you stopped following their rules and asked me for help. You got revenge on those that crossed you. They will spend the remainder of what passes as their short sorry excuse of a life locked up in a strait-jacket and a padded room drooling while they gibber rubbish and you can spend every day of their lives happy and revelling in that knowledge. In that moment when you offered to make a deal you stopped thinking like a human. You have the capacity to do this. You need to do this. You need to realise that the only limits you have are what is beyond your power to do. Human morals. Human ethics. They don't come into it because you are not human. Shed off what humanity you have left and embrace what you are. Break your shackles and be free."

"And do what?" Kal asks her. "My old life is destroyed."

"Then create a new one with me," she offers.

Kal looks at her with genuine surprise. He had only known her a short time but that offer seemed to be generosity she didn't possess.

Glory catches the look. "It's not that I like you," she states strongly. "Not in terms that you understand. Under those terms I don't like anyone. I only tolerate even my fellow Hell Gods. Two of which happen to be my two brothers who kicked me out. When I find my Key and get home I plan to kill them and regain my what you could call my kingdom. I was thinking you could be my Consort."

"You want me to rule with you?"

Glory scoffs at that notion. "I don't rule _**with**_ anyone. You would serve under me but I would grant you your own domain to run as you see fit and being my Consort comes with many benefits. Many of which you have experienced these last few days."

Kal ponders this as Glory seductively runs her fingers across his broad chest. A week ago he wouldn't even consider this but now he finds that what Glory said about how he should define the way he lives his life makes sense. If he hadn't been restraining himself by human rules and morality he would have dealt with Lex and his parents and friends would most likely still be alive.

"So what do you say lover?" Glory asks him with a husky voice.

"I'm in," Kal agrees to her proposal.

Glory smiles. "Then lets celebrate our new alliance by finishing demolishing this place in the same style we have these last few days."

Kal smiles at that idea and then before Glory can react he has punched her in the stomach bending her over and then slams his knee into her face. Might seem lunacy to some people but what he has learned from these last few days is that Glory finds violence a turn-on.

"You insolent trumped up little twerp!" she screeches in rage before a smile that threatens to split her face in half appears. She leaps at Kal knocking him to the floor where they wrestle and exchange blows which soon leads to another couple of days of insanely passionate and intense sex.

When they finally head off together back to Sunnydale Glory has to admit to being amazed how much her life has changed from when she was in that bar. She is free of Ben. Her full powers are returning. She has a new Consort who is almost as strong as she is. Once she has finished purging him of any lingering remnants of humanity he will be magnificent. Worthy to be her Consort.

A positively malevolent smile forms as Glory visualises what lays ahead.

Against her and Kal the Slayer and her little friends have no chance and are as good as dead. Her Key will soon be back in her hands. She will return home and with Kal by her side gain vengeance against her brothers and reclaim her domain.

This will indeed truly be a 'Glory-ous Alliance' and this world and many others won't know what hit them!

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Welcome to the first story of my twisted mind and a ClarkGlory ship is really weird. I hope in time to put up many more perhaps including a sequel to this that shows what happens when Glory and Kal reach Sunnydale. In writing this I had to think about the nature of Kal. I considered simply using Clark's red kryptonite induced alter ego but the downside to that is that that 'Kal' is so smug and egotistical Glory would kill him after speaking to him for about 10 seconds IMO. I thought it better to use a Clark who had had his life destroyed leaving him vulnerable and open for Glory to reshape to her liking._


	3. Clash of Spikes

Chapter 2: Clash of Spikes

Summary: Spike meets some namesakes...sort of.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: Set during Smallville's season 8 finale Doomsday.

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><p>So what's a vampire with a soul to do when supposedly he is now a champion and he hears some prophecy about a terrible monster rising up to destroy the world. Well in Spike's case it means he heads to Metropolis.<p>

Upon arrival it seems that the Seer who spoke the prophecy was on the money if the screams, bangs and explosions are anything to go by.

Spike charges in and attacks the grey behemoth that is the cause with everything he has. The creature doesn't even flinch. It looks at him for a moment with its inhuman glowing red eyes in what seems to be idle curiosity then in a blur of motion too fast for Spike to follow it draws its massive fist back and punches Spike in the face. The fist with bony spikes jutting out from the knuckles tears into the blond vampire's head. Flesh, bone, muscles, brain tissue are ripped away leaving only about half of Spike's head intact.

Spike's body collapses to the floor where it twitches uncontrollably. His undead nature which should be a blessing now being a curse as it won't allow him to die not that there is anything left of Spike to appreciate this irony.

The massive grey creature looks down almost perplexed by the fact its foe is still alive. Obeying its overriding instinct to kill it raises its huge foot up and slams it down on what remains of Spike's head crushing it utterly and separating it from Spike's neck.

Spike's body turns to dust and the creature moves on to continue its reign of violence and destruction and death.

A few minutes later Metropolis' hero the red and blue blur arrives on the scene and engages the creature in battle leaving as he does so his boot print in the dust that was once of history's most notorious vampires.

Thus ends the life of William the Bloody.

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><p><em>Author's Note: So a SpikeDoomsday pairing ends the only way it could with the bony spikes of Doomsday's fist tearing Spike's face apart. I wonder who else I can kill in horrible ways? Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. _


	4. Shared Delusions

Chapter 3: Shared Delusions

Summary: Set during Normal Again. While in the mental hospital Buffy meets a fellow patient.

Summary: Set during Labyrinth. While in the mental hospital Clark meets a fellow patient.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>Buffy is seriously starting to question her sanity. Of course that could be something to with the fact she is in a mental institution. The nub of the matter is…her dilemma is that she can't decide if this is some sort of demon induced delusion or whether it is her whole life as a slayer that has been the delusion like the doctors keep telling her. Part of her wants this to be real. Her parents are alive and together and happy but another part of her is screaming at her to wake up and go back to her friends and her sister. What does she do?<p>

Well at the moment nothing but sit in this chair and wait to be taken back to her padded room. She stares at the floor barely noticing someone else sit down next to her. Probably waiting to see the psychiatrist. Out of boredom she looks up and finds herself looking into these indescribable cerulean blue eyes and even better those eyes are in the face of this gorgeous man. To quote Cordelia 'Hello Salty Goodness!'

Clark knows this is wrong. This has to be wrong. His whole life can't be a delusion can it? He thinks back. One moment he is in his barn, he hears a noise and the next moment he is here in this institution being told that his belief he is an alien is a delusion…a symptom of mental illness.

'What happened to him and how have they removed his powers?' he asks still clinging to the belief that this is all some sort of ploy played on him by someone. For the moment he is just playing along with his doctors until he figures out a way to escape which would be why he is here allowing himself to be taken to see his psychiatrist. He notices a blond girl sitting there but doesn't pay too much attention to her as he sits down and waits. Then out of curiosity his gaze turns to the girl and he wonders what her issues are. Just then she turns to look at him and he finds himself staring into these beautiful green eyes that literally take his breath away.

"So what are you here for?" the girl asks Clark.

Clark blinks and shakes himself out of his momentary freeze. "Sorry?" he asks not catching what she said.

"I asked what are you here for," Buffy repeats. Hey she might as well find some way to pass the time.

"Erm…" Clark isn't sure what to say.

"Look I'll start," Buffy offers. "I believe I'm a super powered warrior called a Slayer whose job it is to fight vampires and demons and the forces of darkness."

Ok that's slightly odd but crazy? Wait why is he actually considering what she is saying is true? Well he did meet a vampire once when he ran away to Metropolis but that is neither here nor there. Well he better say something he supposes. "I believe I'm an alien," he tells her.

Buffy actually smiles. Wow and she thought she had problems. "That's kind of cool or it would be if this wasn't all a demon induced hallucination and you were actually real."

"Funny that's exactly my thoughts except I have no idea if this is a delusion or some set up by my enemies," Clark says while briefly looking around for some sign that all of this is not real.

"Wow paranoid much," Buffy quips.

That makes Clark smile. "Perhaps. What's your name?" he asks.

Buffy realises she has been really quite rude and not introduced herself. "Oh I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer or just old plain Buffy Summers, delusional mental patient. Take your pick."

"Well in that case I am Kal-El of the planet Krypton or just plain old Clark Kent, delusional mental patient."

Buffy offers her hand. "Nice to meet you Clark."

Clark takes her hand. "Nice to meet you Buffy."

There is a spark as their hands touch and they break contact quickly. After a moment they both laugh. "We must really be nuts," Buffy says.

"I know," Clark says in agreement. "So if this is a delusion where are you really?" he asks.

"Erm at home I guess. Lying on the floor. There's probably drool dribbling down my chin as we speak. You?"

Clark scratches his head. "Not sure. The last thing I remember before here was being in my barn. I think something attacked me and the next thing I know I'm queuing for pills."

"Oh yes the pills are good. I like the pink ones," Buffy says with much mock enthusiasm and love for the pills.

"Red ones for me and oh blue as well. Have no idea what they do," Clark admits with a small shake of his head.

"Neither do I but then again none of this is real including the pills."

"I still haven't decided on the reality of this yet."

"So do you have cool alien powers?" Buffy asks, curiously.

"Not anymore."

"But you did before?"

Clark nods. "Yes." Clark sees Buffy looking at him earnestly. "You want the list don't you?"

Buffy smirks. "Yep. Come on I've met demons and even a hell god and they had pretty impressive powers. Me, well some enhanced strength and speed and agility. I'm really agile, so come on share. The worse case scenario here is that you're talking to a mental patient who may never leave this place."

Clark shrugs. She has a point. "Well I'm strong, really strong and fast and invulnerable."

"Invulnerable? You can't be hurt?"

"I can but it takes a lot of force. You want to know the rest?"

"Sure."

"Ok well lets see superhearing. I could hear a whisper in a hurricane and heat vision."

"Heat vision? Explain please."

"I can project beams of heat from my eyes."

"Now you see that would be so handy against vampires. I should get a power like that but I'm interrupted you haven't I. Continue."

"Well that just leaves the x-ray vision I think."

"X-ray vision? Bet you have a lot if fun with that," she teases.

Clark's cheeks go red. "No. I don't spy on people. I'm a mental patient not a voyeur."

"Hey congratulations. You just admitted you're a mental patient. Acceptance is the first step to recovery you know," she says. Also she finds the way he got embarrassed there just so unbelievably cute.

"I really hope that was sarcasm," Clark comments dryly.

"Maybe," Buffy says with a cheeky grin that causes Clark to smile in spite of himself.

"Buffy sweetheart."

Buffy turns to the voice. "Hey mom. I was just talking to my new friend Clark here," she explains.

"Well the doctor wants us all to have a talk. You're father is waiting."

"Ok," she says in acceptance. Buffy stands up. "Well it was nice talking to you Clark," she says her farewells.

"You too. Hope you get better soon and all that."

"Yeah. Hey maybe once we're both better and out of here, we can meet up or something," she suggests.

"That would be nice," he admits truthfully.

"Well goodbye," Buffy says to him as she walks off with her mother feeling a bot sad that she has to go. When she first locked gazes with him she felt a stirring in her heart she hadn't felt in quite awhile.

"Bye," Clark says with a little wave of his hand feeling a bit sad she is leaving.

"Clark," Clark's doctor who has seemingly appeared from nowhere says to him to get his attention.

"Yes," Clark replies.

"You were talking to that girl. I haven't seen you talk that much to anyone since you got here," his doctor remarks.

"Well I found her interesting. Will she be ok?" Clark asks.

"She's not my case but from what I know she is very stubborn in holding on to her delusions. Like you I'm afraid. Come. It's time for our session," the doctor informs him.

Clark stands up and glances at Buffy as she disappears round a corner. She really was interesting and when he first locked eyes with her he felt a little stir in his heart that he hasn't felt in awhile.

Of course once Clark drove the phantom that was attempting to take over his body out it became clear to him she was just another part of the delusion. Still he couldn't quite shake the feeling that somehow she was more real than the rest of it. She seemed a bit like J'onn was. Like somehow she was projected into his head or something. He gives himself a mental shake of his head at that idea. Now he really is starting to worry about his sanity.

Once Buffy had avoided killing her friends and killed the demon instead she tried to forget her little trip to fantasy institution land as best she could but that Clark stood out, like he was more real than the rest of it somehow. Maybe he was real. Then she mentally snorts. Yeah right. An alien existing. She's really losing it now.

* * *

><p>A couple of years later Clark, now working for the Daily Planet, is investigating a warehouse on a lead. Lois was suppose to be helping him but she had gone off on a date. 'Thanks a bunch Lois,' he mentally grumbles. Worse still the lead seems to be totally false. The place is empty. So a complete waste of his time then. To compound his rotten night he is suddenly attacked by a… oh terrific, a vampire. Clark easily grabs it round the throat as it attempts to leap at him.<p>

"Let go of me!" it demands.

"Not going to happen. You must really be stupid to attack me," he says somewhat insultingly but his night has been ruined so he is in a foul mood.

As the vampire pointlessly tries to break Clark's grip it has to agree. The last thing it sees are Clark's eyes glowing red before its existence comes to an end.

Clark is now forced to try to get the dust off of him. Great another shirt ruined he muses miserably. He has to come up with a disguise or a costume or something. He slowly backs up, still trying to dust himself off and not paying attention to where he is going until he bumps into someone. He spins round and his eyes widen at the short blond woman standing in front of him. One with incredible green eyes that take his breath away just like the first time he saw them but it can't be her. Can it? "Buffy?" he queries tentatively.

Buffy was in Metropolis checking up on the slayer cell there and had decided to do some patrolling so she could workout some of her frustrations at the current state of her life. She followed this vampire into a warehouse but had lost sight of it. So she is slowly walking around and stupidly backwards when she bumps into someone big. She spins round and her eyes widen at the sight of two indescribable cerulean blue eyes staring at her in disbelief. It can't be him. Can it? "Clark?" she queries in an equally tentative manner.

"You're real," Clark says not quite believing his eyes.

"So are you," Buffy says back in the same manner.

"How?" Clark says in a virtual gasp.

"I…er…don't know." _'Wow. Gee. Can she sound any lamer?'_ "Soooooooo….uh…are you…uh…are you still an alien?" she has to know.

"Are you still a vampire slayer?" Clark asks back.

"Take the stake in my hand as an answer to the positive," she says holding the sharpened piece of wood up.

Clark smirks as a sudden idea hits him. His eyes glow and he sets fire to her stake. "Take that as proof to the positive."

Buffy tosses the stake away and frowns. "Just be lucky that wasn't Mr Pointy or you would be in big trouble mister," she threatens poking him in his chest. Wow does he ever have a broad chest and hard and probably really really muscle-y and…uh…what the hell was she saying again?

"So how did we end up sharing a delusion?" Clark asks her.

Buffy snaps out of daydreaming. "Oh so it was a delusion for you then," she assumes from his words.

"Yeah. There was this phantom…uh…spirit trying to take over my body but to do so it had to break my will to resist. The whole delusion was designed to do that."

Buffy shudders. "Ooh possessions are creepy. As for me I was poisoned by this demon but to answer your question I haven't a clue how we ended up sharing a trip to fantasy wacky land. Hey maybe we're having another delusion or still having the same one."

"I hope not," Clark says. "I'm just getting my life into a place I like it."

"Yeah still working on that," Buffy has to admit sadly. Ever since Sunnydale went to Craterville her life has been all work and no play leaving her sadly single but she is not, as Faith and Dawn and Xander and Willow and well ok everyone…she is not as they keep implying starting to get desperate or anything…and wow does Clark have big hands she notices. She wonders what else is big on him.

"So what are you doing here?" Clark asks her.

"Here in Metropolis or here in this warehouse?"

"Both."

"Um well for that second one I was chasing a vampire. You didn't happen to see one go by did you?"

"See the dust all over my shirt as answer to that question."

"Cool," she remarks. "And as for the first one that's a long story really."

"How about we talk about it over dinner?" Clark suggests in a sudden and uncharacteristic moment of boldness.

"Are you asking me out?"

"Sure why not. Unless…uh…you're seeing someone aren't you," Clark suddenly realises feeling embarrassed.

Buffy smiles at him. He is still cute when embarrassed. "Actually no."

At her admission Clark smiles so broadly his dimples show. Buffy nearly melts into a puddle of goo. That smile should be registered as a lethal weapon because frankly in Buffy's opinion women of the world would be helpless against it.

"So…uh…dinner?" Clark asks. Buffy smiles all the wider at that and Clark finds his heart fluttering away in his chest at what must be the one of the most beautiful smiles he has ever seen.

Buffy moves to his side and loops her arm around his. "Love to," she says in reply to his offer of dinner.

They share a smile and exit the warehouse. They once shared a delusion although neither can figure out how but what both are hoping as they walk off into the city is that this is the beginning of them sharing a life together.

The End.

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><p><em>Author's Note: Kind of fluffy I know but I have had this half written on my computer for years wondering if I should finish it and what to do it with it when I did. I should have come up with the compilation idea years ago. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews for the other pieces I have written so far.<em>


	5. Glory-ous Victory

Glory-ous Victory

Summary: Follow-up to Glory-ous Alliance. Glory is free of Ben and has Kal by her side. How does that affect the outcome of her battle with the Slayer?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>Dawn Summers never wanted to be this...this Key...whatever it is. She never wanted to have some crazed Hell God-Bitch stalking her friends and family for months on end. She certainly never wanted to be tied to the top of some rickety tower built by crazy people where she would be bled open and in doing so she would tear the walls of reality down destroying the universe as she knew it.<p>

It's now the last stand. Her sister, Buffy, had made it to the top of the tower and now stands, Troll God Hammer in hand, between Dawn and the Hell Goddess known as Glory. Well Glory and this tall guy with curly black hair and blue eyes called Kal who Glory referred to as her Consort. That image made Dawn retch violently.

Only Buffy had made it up here. One by one it seemed to Dawn she had been losing the people around her. Spike was first to fall. Glory had kidnapped him to torture him into telling her where the Key was. Buffy and the gang had gone to rescue him and thought they had succeeded until he inexplicably went poof in a ball of fire.

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><p><em>Spike stands in the middle of Glory's apartment strung up by his wrists by a chain from the ceiling. His shirt has been torn off and he is bloody and beaten with several cuts on his chest from the torture Glory has inflicted on him in her efforts to find out who the Key is.<em>

_Spike had already tried to be funny by saying the key is Bob Barker and then he insulted her perm._

_Glory gasps at her hands go up to her hair. "My hair's naturally curly and bouncy!" she proclaims angrily. She turns to Kal sitting on the couch. "Right Kal. You tell him."_

"_Your hair is one of the wonders of the world," Kal assures her._

_Glory smiles smugly._

_Spike's gaze falls on Kal. "So tell me mate. What are you getting out of this?"_

_Cold blue eyes lock onto Spike. "A new purpose to my life."_

"_What are you doing with this lightweight?"_

"_Lightweight!" Glory screeches and in response slaps Spike hard._

_Spike shakes it off and says with renewed determination,"I ain't tellin you jack. You'll never find your soddin' key and mark my words the Slayer is going to kick your skanky, lopsided ass..." _

_Glory checks her ass in dismay._

"_...back to whatever place would take a," Spike sizes her up, "cheap, whorish, fashion victim ex-god like you."_

_Glory looks at Kal burning with anger. "Did you hear what he said about my ass?"_

_Kal gets to his feet and starts to walk over to her. "I heard."_

"_It's not lopsided is it?" she asks with almost for once uncertainty in her voice._

_Kal takes her by the arms and rubs them gently. "As someone who has thoroughly and repeatedly examined every inch of your bootilicious ass I can promise you sweetness that it is as flawless and perfect as the rest of you."_

_Glory frowns. "Then why did he say it?" she asks._

"_He's trying to make you angry."_

_Glory's expression hardens. "Well he succeeded."_

_Glory spins round and delivers a kick to the centre of Spike's chest sending him flying through the apartment, through the front door and out into the hallway._

"_Good plan, Spike," Spike mutters with a groan. He tries to get back to his feet although his hands are still wrapped together in the chain which has broken about halfway along its length. He starts to drag himself towards the elevator when there is a whoosh noise and the chain is grabbed and he finds his progress halted. Spike looks to see...what did Glory call him? Oh yeah Kal._

"_You know this would be so much easier if you just told her," Kal tells him._

"_I'm not the one banging Miss permanent bad hairdo mate."_

_Kal laughs. _

"_What the bleedin hell is so funny?"_

_Kal yanks on the chain hard, flipping Spike into the air over his head and slamming the blond vampire down into the floor with so much ease it shocks Spike. Kal then grabs Spike by his hair. "If you were the one banging her you would be a hell of lot worse off than you are now. She would crush every bone in your body." Kal then punches Spike across the face hard enough to knock the blond vampire out. "Well now that we have had this fun little chat back to your torture we go."_

_Kal then drags Spike back into the apartment where he is chained back up and water thrown in his face to wake him up._

_Glory looks at Spike most unamused with her hands on her hips. "You tried to escape. I am very annoyed."_

"_Look you fashion reject just kill me already because I ain't tellin you anything."_

_Glory throws her hands up. "Arh!" she rages. "Why won't you just tell me?" she demands. "You're a vampire. She's a vampire slayer. Vampires don't know the first thing about loyalty. I don't get it!"_

"_I do," Kal says._

_Glory looks at him for the explanation._

"_Well as you know I've been spying on them all for you for some time and I noticed a few things."_

"_Like?"_

_Kal smiles an odd little smile. "He's in love with her."_

_Spike's eyes widen in shock that his secret is out. Glory looks at him for several seconds before she grabs her sides and starts laughing so hard she has to sit down before she falls over. She points at him. "He's...in...love...with...a...slayer," she manages to get out between her laughs. It takes a minute but Glory reigns it in. "Wow. That makes you a lot more pathetic than I thought you were," she tells Spike._

_Kal shrugs and then moves over to stand right in front of Spike. "So you won't say who the Key is but I got to know one thing."_

"_What?" Spike asks._

_Kal taps on a certain part of Spike head. "What's this?"_

_Glory moves over next to Kal. "What's what?"_

"_There's a microchip in his brain."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes. I can see it."_

_Glory roughly grabs Spike by his chin and makes him look at her. "What's that about you irritating little bloodsucker?"_

_Spike decides for once that silence might be golden and just gives her a defiant glare. He then notices Kal lean in, gently kiss her neck and then murmur something softly into her ear. So softly even Spike can't make it out completely._

_Glory smiles delighted by whatever Kal said. "That's a great idea!" she proclaims. "Minions!" she yells loudly even though they are in the room with her._

_They all bow. "Yes oh most beauteous Glory," the one called Murk replies._

"_Take Mr Lame sense of humour here down to the basement and get him ready."_

"_Ready for what oh most vibrant One?"_

_A wicked gleam comes to Glory's eyes. "We're going to have a little close-up look at that chip in his brain by cutting his head open and I don't want bits of vampire brains all over my carpet."_

_The demons bow and do as commanded. As soon as Spike is gone Kal and Glory move to the window looking out. He points down below. "Here they come riding to the rescue," he says in relation to Buffy and company coming to save Spike whom he had heard coming which is what he whispered in her ear._

_Glory chuckles. "If only they knew what we're really planning for them," she says with dark anticipation of what she and Kal will inflict upon the Slayer and her little band. _

_Kal turns her head to his and kisses her. "If only," he says his voice a little husky. "You're a cruel manipulative person."_

_Glory smiles. "Aw. You say the sweetest things."_

"_You do know they will kill some of you minions," he points out._

_Glory shrugs, totally uncaring. "Minions schminions. I have lots of them."_

_A few minutes later Glory and Kal watch as the group help the limping Spike away._

"_Far enough?" Kal inquiries._

_Glory ponders for a few seconds. She wants them to get far enough away to think they're safe. "Now," she decides._

_Kal pushes the window open and two red beams streak from his eyes and with pinpoint accuracy strike Spike. From where they stand the two of them can see the small eruption of flame that is the vampire before he turns to dust. They had planned this whole thing and timed it perfectly so Spike would be down in the lobby at the moment the Slayer and co stormed in. They wanted her to rescue him or at least think she did._

_Glory gives a little scream of delight and claps her hands gleefully as she imagines the look on their faces at when the annoying bleached blond(her hair is naturally blond so she totally has that up on him) vampire went poof. She only regrets she couldn't see it._

* * *

><p>'It's funny,' Dawn thinks as she awaits for the final showdown between her sister and her two enemies. It's funny how time seems to slow down in these last moments giving her time to remember how they reached here. They lost Spike and then...then came their mother.<p>

Dawn has to suppress a sniffle of sorrow as she remembers.

Dawn will never really know what happened. She was at school when Buffy found their mother dead.

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm bored," Glory announces one day. Boredom is a common emotion for her. There is little on this world that can hold her attention. Well except her lover of course. He can keep her...'<strong>occupied'<strong> for days at a time._

_Kal cocks his eyebrow before reaching over to the bedside table and grabbing his watch. "We've been up 5 minutes," he points out. They were still in bed. He was just awake. Glory could be very wearing. Her appetites were almost insatiable._

_Glory pouts and strokes his broad chest. "But when was the last time we tormented that annoying little slayer?"_

_Kal has to smile. Since he rejected his humanity he must admit he has found tormenting Buffy Summers kind of amusing. "Ok. Any ideas?"_

"_Hundreds," she says insulted that he could imply anything else. "Hundreds of little butterflies all in a row. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck their little wings off."_

_Glory's hands go to her head. The insanity. It was returning. It didn't happen as often anymore since she was freed from her fleshy prison but until her powers fully return and she can completely shed this human form she still needs to feed occasionally._

_Kal takes her by her arms and kisses her on the temple. "You hang on. I'll find you someone."_

_In a blur of motion he is dressed and has put on Glory's robe for her before summoning in the minions to watch her. It only takes him a few minutes to find someone and the truth is despite knowing what happens next he doesn't feel guilty at all. The old him could never have even contemplated doing this but Glory has helped free him of all those little burdens of human conscience._

_He has the minions hold the young woman still while he leads Glory to her. He takes Glory's hands and places them on the woman's head. Glory's fingers penetrate the skull with the shafts of light emanating from them. It only takes a few moments._

_Glory then stands up straight, her posture reverting to its usual one of power and strength and control. "Ah. Much better," she says in a cheerful voice before commanding the minions to get rid of her used up meal. She then stretches her arms above her head with all the grace and sexual allure she is capable of._

"_So where were we?" she asks Kal as if that whole thing never happened._

"_Tormenting the Slayer," he reminds her._

_A grin comes to Glory's face. "That's right."_

"_Can I suggest something?" Kal requests._

"_Of course sweetie. You're the only one who is allowed to."_

"_The Slayer's mother is recovering from a brain tumour and they were worried about how it might leave her crazy so I was thinking lets go ahead and do that. Lets make her crazy."_

"_I could do with seconds," Glory says agreeing with Kal's idea as a wicked grin forms on her face. This is going to be a lot of fun._

_Ok so in the end it didn't go quite as planned. When they showed up at the Slayer's house and Glory sucked Joyce Summers' brain something happened that neither Kal nor Glory anticipated. The stress of Glory draining the energy caused a brain aneurysm and well that was the end of the Slayer's mom. Not that watching the Slayer and all her friends grieving afterwards didn't have its highlights because it did and in a way the best part was that no-one ever suspected Kal or Glory had any part of it. It allowed them to continue their little game with the Slayer without her realising that is what they were doing._

* * *

><p>Next. What major thing came next?<p>

Dawn thinks, as time still seems to stretch on interminably.

Oh Dawn remembers. Tara. Glory fed off Tara's brains.

* * *

><p><em>Kal comes up behind Glory, wraps his arms around her and kisses her neck in what is his common exhibition of affection. "I was thinking."<em>

"_Hmm. About what?" Glory purrs as Kal's lips excite her whole body._

"_When we get the Key we want the Slayer to come and try and get it back."_

"_Oh yes," Glory moans half at what Kal is doing to her. "I want her to try her best and have her fail. It will make her death all the sweeter when she realises the little game we have been playing with her."_

_Kal continues kissing Glory's neck and speaking in between. "Then we need to come up with a way for her to find out where to be but not make it obvious that is what we wanted."_

"_You are so devious," Glory says impressed at him._

"_Thanks."_

"_What's your plan?"_

"_That you feed off one of her little friends since they will be drawn to the place of the conjunction. The Slayer will follow thinking it will lead her to the Key."_

_Glory moans in pleasure as Kal sucks on a particularly sensitive part of her neck. "Which one?" she asks in relation to which of the Slayer's friends Glory should feed on._

"_To make it really hurt and to look like it is just you being spiteful I was thinking it should be that little sweet kind blond witch."_

_Glory moans louder and not just at what Kal is doing to her. That idea is really a turn on. She turns round in his arms and pushes him onto the bed before clambering all over him. "For a plan like that I'm thinking your God should reward you."_

"_Oh then reward away my Goddess," he says with a hungry gaze as she undresses above him. The room is dark, only lit by candles, and the light from them makes Glory skin have a wonderful glow to it making her look every bit the Goddess she is._

_As for the aftermath of sucking the little witch's brains even Glory will admit she didn't foresee the red-haired witch seeking revenge for what happened to her lover. Kal had been out attending to some other business so Glory had been home alone at the time. It had been quite an effort on Glory's part to not rip apart the red-haired witch and the Slayer when she came rushing to the rescue but Glory restrained herself for no other reason than to make it all the sweeter when the end came which after that incident Glory had now decided would be very soon._

* * *

><p>This last year has been the toughest of Buffy's life. First to find out her sister is the result of some monks transforming a mystical Key into human form and then altering her and everyone else's memories to make sure to hide Dawn from Glory. Then Buffy finds out the thing she is protecting Dawn from is a genuine Hell God. Then this guy shows up alongside Glory. If he wasn't the bad guy Buffy would so be crushing on him for being close to perhaps the most downright gorgeous man she has ever seen...except he is not a man. She thinks he isn't anyway. They had not been able to find out anything about him.<p>

Buffy had come to consider him perhaps more dangerous than Glory for while Buffy had fought Glory a few times and got her ass kicked she will admit but at least she had a good idea how strong Glory was. Him on the other hand; he always stood to the side and simply watched. It was disconcerting and creepy. His explanation when Buffy had asked once being that he wouldn't want to deny Glory her fun.

Fun?

Oh yeah this whole thing has been so much fun.

Forced to flee when Glory's patience ran out. Chased by the Knights of Bad fashion-ium who wanted to kill Dawn to prevent Glory gaining possession of the Key. Finding out Ben, a nurse who Buffy had liked, was the human vessel Glory had been banished into at the worst possible time imaginable. When they had called him to help Giles who had been injured by the knights. They had been holed up in the desert surrounded by the Knights with only a shield Will conjured up protecting them. Right in the middle of it Ben transformed into Glory and took Dawn.

For a moment it all became too much for Buffy and her mind snapped until Willow magicked herself into Buffy's mind and brought her out of it.

Then came this the final fight. They had a plan. No guarantee it would work but it was a plan. First off have Willow do some mojo and take back the mental energy Glory stole from Tara and hence weaken Glory or at least make it more difficult for the Hell God to hold a coherent thought together.

Looked like it would work too. Willow had one hand each on Tara and Glory's heads. Cool blue lightning seemed to show the transfer of energy and then Glory did something. She put her hand into the energy and deflected it or something. The link became between Willow and Glory where Glory was doing the draining.

Poor Willow became another crazy slave of Glory's will.

Despite that the plan proceeded. Use the Buffybot and the Dagon Sphere. The sphere thing seemed to work. Glory certainly looked in pain until she crushed it. At that point no sign of Glory's Consort as they had discovered he was. Buffy didn't know why. Didn't care. It gave her a fighting chance if he wasn't around.

Glory smashed the Buffybot so Buffy pulled out her next ploy. The hammer of a Troll God. Certainly seemed to do the trick.

Still a problem with Glory's minions making sure none of her friends could get up to Dawn.

The fight with Glory continued. Buffy lost the hammer but got Glory into position for Xander's part where he hit her with a wrecking ball. Only he didn't.

The instant the ball smashed through the wall there was Kal, appearing from nowhere, his hand blocking the ball which now had an enormous dent in it.

Buffy remembers he looked at her with...amusement like he was finding this entire thing hilarious but it was more than that. The way he smirked like he was constantly laughing at a joke only he got.

What was not amusing was what happened next. He grabbed the chain of the ball and then swung the whole machine around and around, with Xander still inside, before he flung it far off over the horizon and out of sight. The chances of Xander surviving the impact when it came back down had to be practically zilch.

Then for whatever reason he stood back aside once more as Buffy, who managed to retrieve the Troll Hammer, and Glory hammered(pun intended) it out until here Buffy stands atop of the tower with Glory and Kal opposite her.

"You know this has really been quite amusing," Kal comments.

"I know right," Glory says in agreement.

"You will not touch her," Buffy declares.

Glory laughs. "Oh sweet cheeks. You have no idea at all what is going on do you?" She looks at Kal. "If you would," she requests.

Kal gives her a quick kiss. "Anything for you beloved." His eyes then glow red and beams shoot from them striking the hammer heating it up so much Buffy has no choice but to drop it. Then in a blur of motion Glory moves forward, grabs a couple of metal pieces of the tower and then slams them through Buffy's shoulders at the right angle until they penetrate through the platform effectively pinning Buffy where she stands.

Dawn cries out at seeing her sister like this.

Glory had made sure that what she did would not be immediately fatal. She needed the Slayer alive long enough to explain a few things. She grabs Buffy by her chin and makes the blond slayer look up at her. "Did you know that you had lost this battle before it even began?"

Buffy glares at Glory through her pain.

Glory continues. "Do you know when I actually discovered your sister was the Key? It was that day my beloved Kal and I showed up at your house. You remember that?"

* * *

><p><em>Glory and Kal walk away from Buffy's house after Glory had had a little chat with the Slayer threatening to kill Buffy's loved ones one by one until Buffy gave her the Key.<em>

"_Why won't she tell me?" Glory whines. "She doesn't need the Key. I do!"_

"_It's the sister," Kal says._

"_Well she was kind of spunky. I almost liked her."_

_Kal shakes his head. She didn't hear him or at least not what he was meaning. "You said the Key was green energy?"_

"_When I last saw it it was this green swirling energy ball."_

"_The Slayer's sister. Her aura was...odd so I took a closer look and know what I saw?"_

"_No and do I care? No."_

"_I think you'll care about this. In her blood, in every one of her blood cells I saw swirling green energy."_

_Glory stops dead in her tracks and starts to smile. She grabs Kal's face and proceeds to kiss the life out of him. "I'm going to screw you senseless later," she promises._

"_Ok."_

_Glory rubs her hands together in anticipation. "Lets go kill a Slayer."_

"_Lets not."_

"_What!"_

"_It was why I waited to tell you and before you hit me..." which Kal can see from the look in her eye she is planning to, "just hear me out."_

"_You have one minute."_

"_We know the girl is the Key. We can take her any time we want but why don't we have some fun with this."_

_Glory's brow furrows slightly._

"_Just think on it. We can play one big long game on the Slayer. Watch her and laugh as she tries to what she thinks is keep her sister's true nature a secret. Just think of the look on her face when the time comes to end it and you tell her this."_

_Glory has to admit that does sound fun. "Alright. I'll go along with it for now but as soon as I get bored I'm taking my Key and killing that Slayer."_

"_Fine."_

_Glory eyes Kal for a moment. "Hmm. You know you have this whole devious side I never imagined."_

"_Well you said for me to stop thinking like a human. I guess this is what you get."_

* * *

><p>Buffy listens to Glory recite the story. "Y-You-you've..."<p>

"Been playing you sweetie until the time came to swat you like the bug you are. It has been so much fun! Kidnapping your little blond vampire and yes I did torture him for the sheer sake of it. That was a kick. It also kept you thinking that I didn't know where my little Key was. Then there was killing your dear old mom."

Buffy grits her teeth against the pain. If only she could move she would get Glory. Her mom...oh god her mom. That hurt so much. Much more than this ever can.

Glory taps her chin with her finger. "Lets see what else. Oh yes. Old Benny boy! That...now that was classic having him seduce you only you didn't quite fall for his charms. Still he got close enough for you to trust him. I'll get back onto old Benjy in a minute because there is more to that story."

Glory takes a second to wipe a smudge off Buffy's cheek. "There now. Can't have you look messy for your own funeral. Now what did we do next? Oh yes the little blond witch. Complete set up to get you here. By the way that was a good plan to try and weaken me by stealing the energy back and it might have worked 6 months ago. One flaw though. You were working on a false assumption. You based everything, your whole plan, on the single premise that I was a weakened power imprisoned in a cell of flesh. You must have noticed by how much sense I am making right now how that no longer is true."

Glory points at Kal. "He freed me and every day that has passed since I have gotten stronger, my powers have grown, internally I reverted back to my true form and this body, as fantastically perfect as it is, all you see now is little more than a façade. That means when your witch tried to drain me it took no more than a mere fleck of my power to reverse the spell and suck her brains. Now then that brings me back onto Ben because you see I was freed by separating me and him and originally I was planning to torture him in unspeakable ways for an inordinate length of time. However when Kal suggested we play some games with you he came up with the delightful idea idea of using Ben in the way we did."

Kal was trying to be ironic. Human emotions, human ways of thinking cost Clark Kent everything he held dear. Seemed only fitting somehow to use that ploy on Buffy Summers with Ben as the instrument to do it.

Glory continues, "Now you probably want to rage at Ben but he wasn't doing it of his own free will. I took that away. Benjamin was just my little puppet on a string."

Buffy can hear Dawn quietly sob and only wishes she could apologise for her failure. She has been played royally and can see that her end has come if only Glory would stop torturing her with the incessant talking.

Glory strokes some of Buffy's hair off her face. "You are probably wondering why I chose to end it when I did. Well after your little red-haired witch attacked me lets just say I was no longer having fun. Although the road chase between you guys in the Winnebago and the Knights of Loserville was amusing. If it means anything for you to know this I was going to take little Dawnie there in a couple of days anyway since as you know the conjunction was approaching. The best bit though of your little escape attempt was when you called Ben for help and I saw a chance for one last game. 'Ben' was me using a glamour spell."

Glory can see Buffy's eyes drift to Kal. "Oh. You're wondering why he didn't do a great deal of fighting. Simple. Because I told him not to. I get bored very easily and beating you up was alleviating my boredom. That and the two of us combined would have killed you in a few seconds or you would have figured out just how outclassed you were and tried to run away. Now we couldn't have that could we. That would have brought this little game to an end far too soon and we would not have had as nearly as much fun," she says with a self-satisfied dark chuckle as she remembers everything she and Kal did and how amusing it all was.

Glory strokes Buffy's hair some more her fingers straying to the place they would if she was going to feed off Buffy. "I thought about feeding off of you but I decided against it. I want that tiny little chemical engine you call a brain to work as well as it can so you fully understand just how pathetically small and insignificant you are...how much of a failure you are," Glory says with particular glee at rubbing it in.

Glory lets go of Buffy's face and walks away a few paces. "You once speculated why as a God I couldn't throw fire balls or lightning bolts or so on and so forth. When you said it I couldn't. Now however..." Glory raises her hand above her head and dark clouds form above Sunnydale. Thunder and lightning soon crack the heavens. "Now I can and hopefully now just before you die you understand. This fight only lasted this long because I let it. You only got up here because I allowed it. From the day I was separated from Ben the only gift you had left to give this world was your death."

_'Death is your gift.'_

"May whatever God you believe in have mercy on your soul Buffy Summers because this one doesn't. Bye bye now!"

Next thing Dawn knows she is being lifted up and away from the tower in Kal's arms. She then watches as lightning shoots down from the sky above and strikes her sister. Buffy's screams will haunt her for the rest of her life whatever remains of it.

When it is over all that is left of Buffy is a charred smoking corpse. Glory takes a few steps forward to look at it close up. How long had she imagined this and now here it was. The Slayer dead. She looks up to see Kal using his newly acquired power of flight as he holds her Key in his strong arms. Tears run down the young teenage girl's face. They don't move Glory.

Glory takes one moment to recall everything that has happened this last year and a triumphant smile comes to her lips.

She is free and restored to her true self.

The Slayer is dead.

She has her Key.

She has her Consort.

Her time to rule once again has come.

This truly is a Glory-ous victory.

The End.

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><p><em>Author's Note: As I promised a follow-up to my Glory-ous Alliance story. Oh dear poor Buffy. She was way out of league in this one wasn't she but my thought was that Buffy could never defeat Glory and Kal together therefore it only lasted for as long as they wanted it to last. I don't think I'm quite done with this particular universe yet. I have a couple more ideas. Thanks to everyone who has written reviews.<em>


	6. Keys, Wishes and Tuesdays Don't Mix

**Keys, Wishes and Tuesdays Don't Mix**

Summary: Dawn makes a wish on a Tuesday. You'd think she learn by now. Set during Season 7.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>"Alright. Who said it?" Buffy demands to know. "Who said the 'W' word?"<p>

The Scoobies, Giles included, point at Dawn as the one responsible.

"Way to show loyalty guys," Dawn grumbles.

Buffy pinches the bridge of her nose. Migraine City here she comes. "Dawn what were you thinking of saying that word on a Tuesday of all things!"

"Well you know I was just making one tiny little flippant remark. How was I suppose to know it would come true?"

"You wished Clark Kent was real!" Buffy screams in frustration.

"No. I wished Superman would crash down here in Sunnydale to take care of the enormous army of those Uber-Vamps," she corrects her sister. "I mean think about it. One vast blast of his heat vision and poof!"

Well the crashing down bit most certainly happened proved by the spaceship in the back garden but Dawn's wish as inevitably happens on the Hellmouth didn't turn out quite as expected. Proof positive of that was evidenced by the small blue-eyed infant sitting in the middle of the living room bending someone's sword into funny shapes as if he playing with a bendy straw.

Buffy places her hands on her hips and sighs. "I'm too young to be a mother," she complains sounding almost whiny. "Let alone a mother to an infant who is already as strong as I am. Giles please tell me there is some way to undo this," she pleads.

Giles takes his glasses off and cleans them. "Only the one who granted the wish can reverse it," he informs Buffy.

Buffy looks to Anya for help. "Is this your friend Halfrek's doing?" she asks in relation to Anya's vengeance demon friend.

Anya shakes her head. "Not Hallie's style."

"Then who?"

"Can't be certain. Takes a lot of power to conjure up a fictional character into reality so that narrows it down a bit."

"Is there a way you can find out?"

Anya thinks on it. "Well...there might be one or two who still owe me a favour."

"Then get on it," Buffy orders before turning her gaze back to her sister.

Dawn's face falls. "So what horrid punishment are you going to give me this time?"

Buffy shakes her head. "No punishment this time Dawn."

"Huh?" Dawn says completely at a loss.

"Responsibility. Until we can undo this you have to help look after him and in doing so I can only pray you actually learn something."

Ok. Dawn guesses she should take some responsibility in looking after the baby Superman. "I'll help."

"Good. Now all that leaves is to assign you your duty. I'm thinking..." Buffy's smile becomes malevolent. "diaper duty."

Dawn's wails can be heard across the entire town. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

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><p><em>Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has written reviews.<em>


	7. Wedded Bliss Interrupted

**Wedded Bliss...Interrupted**

Summary: The wedding of Clark and Lois. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Two women choose to speak now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: I will be taking liberties galore here and it is not meant to be taken seriously so please take it as what it is.

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><p>The Wedding of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The beautiful blushing bride. The handsome groom. Almost clichéd in its assemblage.<p>

The priest is simply going through the formalities. "If anyone has any objection why these two should not be wed let him speak now or forever hold their peace?" he asks the congregation.

A few seconds go by. "We object!" twin female voices shout from the back of the church. There are audible gasps. Lois looks like she will explode, her face turning red with anger.

Clark meanwhile has gone as white as a ghost as he lays eyes on the brunette and the blond women. Previously forgotten images scream into his brain.

_Zatanna's gift. The magically spiked champagne. They all ending up very drunk. Oliver talking him into one last hooray as a bachelor. A quick superspeed to Vegas. Meeting the blond and brunette in a hotel bar. Going up to their room and spending two entire days there and...before that they did something else?...What was it again?...oh no!_

"Who the hell are you?" Lois demands to know through gritted teeth as the two women stride confidently forward to the front.

"Oh how rude of me," the blond says sounding slightly air-heady. "I'm Buffy and this is Faith," she says pointing at the brunette and introducing themselves.

"That doesn't explain who you are."

Both women produce something from behind their backs. Two pieces of white paper which they hold up for everyone to read. "It's simple," the women say together and then point at Clark. "We're his wives!"

The two pieces of paper are marriage certificates.

"B-but you can't both be?" Lois shrieks.

"Um..." Chloe starts to say hesitantly having noticed on the certificates where the marriages took place. "Actually they can because Nevada changed its law about 6 months ago to make polygamy legal."

"Which it is not in Kansas," the priests says sternly fixing Clark a steely gaze. "This wedding cannot proceed!" he declares loudly so all the guests can hear.

Lois just stares at Clark wanting him to deny this. For him to tell her this all just some fantasy cooked up by crazy people.

Clark swallows hard. "Uh...Lo...honey..."

Lois slaps him. "Don't!" she screams. "Don't talk to me! I can't believe...you...of all people...I can't..." Lois just runs out of words and starts to run off tears streaking down her face.

Clark moves to chase after her but is caught by Oliver who shakes his head which says to leave her be for now. Clark's eyes roam around to see his mother, her expression filled with utter disappointment in him.

"Now then," Buffy says. "Now that we have that out of the way it's time you make with the talky," she tells Clark.

"What?" Clark asks his mind, even his superpowered one, struggling to comprehend everything that is happening.

"Faith and I," Buffy says waving her hand back and forth between herself and the brunette, "we're Slayers which means we have strength and stamina way above normal people and you..."

Faith picks it up here. "You screwed us until we couldn't walk. A normal guy struggles to last a few hours with 1 of us let alone a whole weekend with 2."

At that Clark receives a large clap on his back from Oliver. "Didn't know you had it in you Clark," he says sounding impressed at what Clark managed. Since they were part of the whole hero grapevine they knew about Slayers.

"Ollie!" Chloe shrieks in total abhorrence at Oliver's praise considering her cousin's heart just got broken.

At his girlfriend's look Oliver can see many a night stuck on the couch coming his way.

"So talk and explain just what the hell you are," Buffy demands to know since there was no way he could be human.

Clark runs his hand through his hair and loosens his tie. By now the church is virtually empty. It was a small wedding so it hadn't taken long for people to leave, the priest included. He lowers himself down to sit in the front pew. "You might want to sit. This could take awhile," he advises the two women who sit themselves down as Clark does the explainy bit.

* * *

><p>"Damn!" Faith says after Clark finishes his story. That being her immediate reaction to learning he is an alien. She looks him up and down a few times which strictly speaking isn't necessary since in Vegas she explored every inch of his chiselled gorgeousness as he explored every inch of both her and Buffy. Her lips curve up into that self-satisfied sexy grin. "I told ya B. Can I pick them or can I pick them?"<p>

"You can pick them alright Faith and by the way this is the last time I let you pick them or in fact the last time I let you suggest how we spice up our sex life full stop," Buffy tells the brunette.

At that Oliver's eyebrows rise significantly as images flood his brain. "You two are...?"

"Lovers," Buffy and Faith says together and they share a tender little kiss.

"We're bisexual in case you were wondering," Buffy answers what would be the next question.

"Oh yeah. Love a piece of man-meat every so often so B and I pick guys up, give them the time of their lives for one night and satisfy our own needs and desires. Perfect deal really," Faith explains.

"Until we met you," Buffy says pointing at Clark. "Just what the hell was in that drink you gave us?"

More images scream into Clark's brain. Oh god. His head drops into his hands. "It was the champagne. I still had the bottle."

"Explain," Buffy asks.

Clark takes another breath and explains the spiked champagne that he still had in his possession when he met Faith and Buffy and he gave them both a drink from it.

"Huh. We'll have to get the spell of that for Red," Faith remarks knowing Willow would love that spell and well so would she because damn that champagne gave her a hit she hasn't been able to enjoy since she became a slayer and the accelerated slayer metabolism kicked in.

This is a complete nightmare is the only thing Clark can think. The woman he loves is gone and he isn't sure how he can ever make this up to her or if he even can and now here he is with his two wives. "So where do we go from here?" Clark asks.

Buffy responds. "Well obviously an annulment is a start which needs all of us to agree to it."

Clark nods. He is just too emotionally shattered right now to do anything but agree.

"I don't know B. He is kind of pretty. You sure we can't keep him," Faith teases.

"Faith," Buffy slightly chastises. This is not the time for levity in her opinion.

"It was just a suggestion," Faith says lightly.

Buffy gets to her feet and places a supportive comforting hand on Clark's shoulder. She really hadn't intended to interrupt his wedding but this just happened to be the day they finally caught up to him after she and Faith woke up in Vegas alone. He had vanished off at some point while they were sleeping.

Clark looks up at her with sad soulful eyes. Damn. Those eyes are incredible. It makes Buffy think perhaps she should take Faith's idea of keeping him more seriously.

No. Best not although after what happened they will no doubt be staying in touch for some time to come. In fact they do exchange contact information so they can sort out this annulment.

"Well we better be going," Buffy says. "We'll be in touch."

Again all Clark does is nod.

"Oh but before we go we have something for you," she says and in front of Clark's eyes Buffy and Faith suddenly hold out two identical little sticks with a window and pink lines.

"Congrats. You're going to be a daddy," Faith tells him.

The images of him, Buffy and Faith play out in Clark's head. Two days in that hotel room...and no protection used. That's the final straw for Clark as his eyes roll back in his head and he falls to the floor unconscious in a dead faint.

"Wow. I always thought it would be me in this situation first," Oliver quips which earns him a slap across the back of the head from Chloe, a severe glare and in the end an entire month sleeping on the couch.

The End.

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><p><em>Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has written reviews.<em>


	8. Glory-ous New Beginnings

Glory-ous New Beginnings

Summary: 3rd in my Glory-ous series. In the immediate aftermath of her defeat of the Slayer Glory reveals her true plans.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>It was over.<p>

Buffy was dead.

Xander was almost certainly dead.

Spike had died months ago.

Willow and Tara had both been reduced to crazy slaves of Glory's will.

Only Giles and Anya were left now. Giles knew what fate was next. His heart was broke over the loss so part of him would welcome what was to follow. Better that than watch the world be torn apart as Glory uses Dawn to return to her home dimension.

Giles and Anya look up as Glory leaps all the way down from the top of the tower to right in front of them, cratering the ground slightly as she lands. She stands up straight, a large triumphant grin on her face. "Well now. Down to the Watcher and the former Vengeance Demon. Doesn't say much about the calibre of this world's so-called heroes now does it," Glory mocks as she walks towards them gracefully, with a certain sway to her hips. She stops a few feet in front of them. "Now then what to do with the two of you," Glory contemplates while theatrically tapping her chin with her finger.

Giles raises his chin defiantly. If he is going to die it will be with as much dignity as he can manage.

"Giles! Anya!" screams from above grabs their attention.

Both look up to see Dawn in the arms of Kal as he floats down to stand next to Glory. Glory looks at Dawn and pats her on the head like she was a pet. "She's awful cute ain't she but somewhat noisy. I mean she just talks and talks and talks. Don't you hate people like that?"

"End this game," Giles demands of Glory.

Glory laughs. "Wow. Did you hear that little Dawnie. This pathetic mortal is daring to tell a God what to do. He's just lucky I'm in a good mood or I would have already ripped out his spine," she says in a completely inappropriate cheerful sounding voice for describing something so horrible. "So Rupert," she says using Giles' first name. "Can I call you Rupert?"

Giles glares at her wondering what it is she wants. She has already won. He obviously can't stop her.

"And Anyanka," Glory says using the name Anya went by when she was a vengeance demon. "By the way Anyanka big fan of your work," she says in what could be interpreted as actual admiration for all the truly terrible and horrific vengeances Anya has inflicted on men over the centuries.

"Thank you!" Anya says pleased she is getting some praise.

"Here's the one time only deal I'm going to offer because I am in such a good mood. Pledge your eternal and undying loyalty and worship to me and you get to live. Refuse and I'll...do something excruciatingly painful. You know whatever pops into mind. So what do you say?"

Giles says nothing.

"OK!" Anya announces loudly her agreement to Glory's offer and moves away from Giles to stand next to Glory.

"Anya. What are you doing?" Giles asks unable to believe what she is doing.

"It's over Giles," Anya says plainly. "She's won. I'm doing the sensible thing. I want to live," she gives as her explanation.

"She's a hell god bent on destroying the world Anya," Giles argues.

"True but at least she has great fashion sense."

"That is completely true," Glory says sounding slightly air-heady. "So Rupert what do you say? Ready to join the winning team?"

"I will never compromise my principles," he replies.

Glory rolls her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah. Blah. Blah." She waves him off. "You see I try to be nice and people throw it in my face." She turns to Kal. "Kal sweetie. Be a dear and show Rupert what happens to those that oppose us."

"Anything for you honey," he says in an deliberate over the top sugary sweet voice. His eyes glow and two red beams shoot from them hitting Giles and setting him alight. He screams in unimaginable agony for the several seconds it takes him to die.

Tears roll down Dawn's cheeks as overwhelming fear fills her. She knows what comes next. She is cut open so her blood can open the portals between dimensions.

Glory dusts her hands off and turns to Dawn. She bends down next to the Key in human form and brushes Dawn's hair off her face before using a tissue to wipe Dawn's tears away. "Hello there my little Key. Do we have some plans for you..." Glory leans in right to Dawn's ear and whispers, "but not the ones you think we do."

Dawn turns her head to look right in Glory's eyes as the Hell Goddess smiles knowingly.

"You see none of you ever knew what was really going on did you. All this..." Glory gestures at the tower. "It was all for show."

"And what a terrific show it was oh Great One," Anya says in sycophantic praise.

Glory stands up straight. "How about we show you what we really plan to do next huh? Would you like that Dawnie?"

Dawn says nothing.

"Jinx!" Glory screams. "Bring me my ride!" she orders.

The 4 of them then head for the street out of the building site where the tower stands.

"Um what about all the crazy people?" Anya wonders that are wandering around aimlessly, including Tara and Willow amongst their number.

"What about them?" Glory asks in a cold uncaring rhetorical fashion.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you had some plan for them oh great Goddess of mine. I of course meant no disrespect."

If she had Glory would have killed her. "They've served their purpose," Glory states.

The 4 stand at the kerb and wait as a minion drives up in an open top red Ferrari with the number plate 'GLORY 2'

"It's new," Glory explains with pride in it. She looks so good in red. "The previous one broke after we discovered a human built car can't stand up to a God and a Kryptonian having sex on top of it."

Kal smiles at the memory. "But you did look so sexy lying atop of it naked beforehand."

"Naturally," Glory says like he is stating the obvious.

At that Anya briefly wonders if this Kal would ever be willing or allowed to service her needs in that fashion. It is not that she didn't like Xander. She did but he's dead and she has to make the best of the situation she is in now. "So...uh...Kryptonian?" she wonders having never heard that term in her 900 years of life.

"It's my species," Kal replies. "And that is all I'm going to say about that so no more questions," he warns her off.

Anya for once chooses to remain quiet.

Dawn gets stuffed in the back of the car and belted in. Glory pats her head. "Buckle up sweet cakes. I don't want you to get hurt."

Dawn just glares as defiantly as she can while she tries to stop herself from emotionally falling apart at having just seen everyone she cares for be killed. Anya sits in the back next to her.

"This is a really nice car!" Anya praises it. She is also jealous at her not having a car like this. She wonders what she has to do to get one.

"Traitor!" Dawn hisses at her.

Anya shrugs. "Call me what you want but are you really telling me if you were in my shoes you would have rather ended up like Giles?"

"In a heartbeat," Dawn says with total conviction.

Glory gets in the driver seat and Kal in the passenger. Glory revs the engine and the car screeches off through the streets of Sunnydale at an insane turn of speed.

They come to a stop outside a warehouse which is being guarded by Glory's minions. "Here we are!" Glory announces.

Dawn has her hand over her mouth trying not to barf. That was the most insane driving ever. It was worse than Buffy. How they are still alive Dawn has no idea.

Dawn gets dragged out the car and the 4 head into the warehouse.

One of Glory's minions runs to greet them and bows in her presence. "Oh great, most perfect Glory. Slayer of Slayers. Retriever of the Key. Most Marvellous Moth..."

"Enough already!" Glory yells. Even she gets tired of hearing all that.

The minion bows lower. "Of course. Forgive me. I am not worthy."

"Tell me something I don't know."

The minion turns to Kal and bows to him. "Most Honoured and Worthy Consort to the Great Glorificus I bid thee welcome."

"It's Gurk right?" Kal queries.

The minion, Gurk, bows lower. "You honour me with remembrance of my name."

Glory rolls her eyes. "You do that on purpose just to get praise don't you," she says meaning Kal bothers to remember the minions' names to get praise like he just did.

"Have no idea what you mean," Kal says with a fake innocent smile.

Glory snorts. "Take some advice. Learn to lie better. I've killed people for less you know."

"I know. You tried to kill me for less. Lucky I'm immortal isn't it."

"Wait," Anya says. "She tried to kill you?"

"The very first time we met," Kal confirms. He then moves over and gives Glory a deep kiss. "That was the day Glory started to help me see how I should truly live."

"Can we get this over with already," Dawn complains kind of almost wishing they would just kill her and get it over with.

"Over? It is only just beginning," Glory tells Dawn.

They enter into the warehouse. Inside there are a few dozen of what looks like leather-like spherical objects about the size of beach-balls held together in some kind of resin. Glory walks over and places her hand gently on one stroking it with loving affection. "Hey Kiddies! Mommy's home!"

"Mommy?" Dawn and Anya exclaim at the same time.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback...<strong>

_Glory stretches out her muscles after some more wonderful sex with Kal. It had been a good few months since she found him. He was getting more perfect every day he let her teach him how he should use his power. He was going to be great by the time she took him back home with her._

_Glory rests her head on her hand and watches him as he stands at her window haloed by the sunlight. He seems to be deep in thought which tends to be a bad thing in his case. It means he is brooding on something most likely to do with his past life and how he defined himself by human standards._

_Glory gets to her feet and moves over to him wrapping her arms around him from behind and nibbles at his ear. "If you say you are regretting any of this I will have to kill you," she informs him._

_Kal turns round and smiles softly. Glory finds her heart speed up at the way he smiles. He kisses her on the lips and his hands caress her perfect form. "I'm not actually. I feel...you make me feel so free. I always use to feel so burdened."_

"_That's because you stopped thinking in human terms," Glory explains._

"_Life seems so much simpler now."_

"_Life is simple when you're a God. You command something and it happens."  
><em>

"_I'll never be a God Glory."_

"_You're close enough for me."_

"_Am I?" he asks. "That was what I was thinking about. What happens when it is time for you to go home?"_

"_I told you this. You come with me. We kill my brothers and then bring about a reign like no Hell dimension has ever seen." __Glory sees him make a face. "What is it now?" she asks starting to get annoyed at him._

"_Why are so eager to go back?" Kal asks her._

"_Because it's my home," she says like it is obvious. "And it was taken from me unfairly. It was mine! They had no right! I was the most powerful! The most Worthy! That domain and all others I want are mine!"_

"_This world Glory is my home," Kal explains to her and hopes she understands._

"_This world?" she repeats incredulously. "I can crap better worlds than this!"_

"_I'm sure you can but it is the only place I know. It is my home...and I don't think I want to leave it."_

_Glory pulls away from him and paces across the room unable to believe she is hearing this tripe. "This world is unworthy of you. It is unfit! How can you even consider staying here? How can you even consider leaving me?" she screeches in fury. It is just unthinkable to her how anyone could choose this miserable planet over her._

"_Glory. It's not that simple," he tries to make her understand. He does...more than care for her he has discovered during these last few months but going off to some Hell dimension isn't what he wants to do. He doesn't know what he wants to do yet but he knows it has to be here on Earth._

"_Get out!" she seethes in fury as she points at the door._

_Kal takes a step towards her. "Glory..."_

"_I said get out!" she screams picking up the entire bed and throwing it at him. He bats it off easily enough. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"_

_Kal sighs and can see he isn't going to get through to her until she calms down which knowing Glory could either be in a few minutes from now or never. She could be that unpredictable. In a blur he gets his clothes on and is gone._

_Glory collapses to the floor and finds herself sobbing. She raises her hand to her cheeks and find real tears rolling down. What is happening to her? She is a God. Gods don't cry._

_It's this body. Has to be. She's been trapped in human form for too long. It's starting to infect her. Once she sheds it and returns home everything will be fine...except it won't because Kal won't be by her side._

_She wipes more tears away._

_'What is wrong with me?' she asks herself. All she has ever wanted is to go home but now the thought of doing so without Kal makes this heart she is stuck with physically ache._

_Glory sits there for a long time trying to work it out. While the stupid Slayer and her friends have insulted her by calling her not very smart nothing is further from the truth. Glory was just stuck with a pathetic human brain that couldn't properly hold her magnificence. It is what caused her bouts of insanity. No surprise really when you take a Hell God and try and compact them down and stuff them in a fleshy human form that it doesn't quite work right._

_She still has her moments of insanity although fewer and further between as her powers return and she reverts to her true self. Now she puts all that has returned to use and tries to understand what she is feeling._

_Feelings._

_Yes. That's the problem. She has feelings...feelings of attachment...of care...of...of...No!...No!...Definitely no!...She can't...She's a Hell God...She can't feel...**that**...Gods don't feel...**that!**_

_Glory sits there longer willing herself to find the solution to this problem. Eventually it strikes her what it is she must do._

_Kal returns to Glory's apartment after one of the minions found him and told him that the Most Beautiful Fabulous Glorificus wished to see him. He has to wonder though how this will turn out. __He finds her standing, waiting, dressed to kill, perhaps literally._

_Glory points at him. "You," she says accusingly. "Do you know what you have done to me?"_

"_Glory. I am not going to fight you," Kal tells her and he can tell from her look, her profile, that she is planning to._

_Glory blurs across the apartment, grabs Kal by the throat and throws him all the way back out of the 3rd floor apartment. He impacts the ground outside cratering it. Seconds later Glory is landing on top of him. "Fight me!" she demands._

"_No," he refuses._

_Glory punches him a few times and then to Kal's complete shock kisses him ferociously. She trails kisses and bites all the way along his jaw to his ear. "You need to fight me because I need you," she whispers almost desperately._

"_Glory. What?" he says totally befuddled._

_Glory sits up and straddles him. "I decided that I don't wish to go home without you."_

"_Glory I can't go with you," he tells her. He had not changed his mind on that._

_She looks at him and Kal sees a tenderness there he didn't know she possessed. "I know. I'm going to stay," she tells him what she has decided to do._

"_But you hate this world," he reminds her._

"_I do. Therefore if I'm going to stay I decided I'll have to take it over. I exist to rule. I must rule. I can't deny that instinct within." Glory looks at him intently. "We will rule together side by side you and me. Reshape this world to our liking," she says really meaning she wants them to be equals rather than him being the subordinate she proposed he be before. "What do you say?"_

_Kal is rather at a loss what to say. He had never expected this but as he thinks on it it may not be a bad idea. He lost everything he use to be because of humans. Humans just make one colossal mess of everything. It always use to irritate him how humans could never see how to live together in harmony with themselves and the planet but he never thought it was his place to force anyone to change as that had been what he had been taught by his parents. That was the way they had raised him. __However thanks to Glory he now thinks quite differently on things and maybe her suggestion is not such a bad idea. _"_What about what we are doing to the Slayer? What about the Key?" he wonders now that Glory is not going home._

_Glory smiles. "What about them? We don't have to stop playing with them? In fact just think of how much sweeter it will all be with them trying to stop something we no longer plan to do. It will be so much fun!" she declares._

"_That it would be," he says in agreement. "And the Key?"_

_Glory cocks her head to one side as she thinks. "Well one day I would still like to get revenge on my brothers and I need the Key to break down the dimensional barrier. We'll keep her like a pet until we're ready. I'm sure we can find some way to use her without destroying what will be our world by that time."_

"_Our world," Kal repeats. "I like the sound of that."_

"_I know! It sounds so good!" Glory says with almost child-like enthusiasm. She gently strokes his broad chest. "Anyway that brings us to my totally brilliant idea."_

"_Which is?"_

"_Children!" she announces with glee._

"_Children?" Kal asks totally lost._

_Glory nods. "I was the most powerful Hell God back home with the largest army and you know how I got the largest army?"_

_From what she said Kal can guess the following. "You gave birth to them."_

"_Uh huh," she says with an enormous smile. "And now that I'm free of Ben I have the power to give birth again. I'll breed us our own army with which to conquer this little backwater world. I think you can pretty much guess what your contribution will be."_

"_Can you really do that with me? After all we're so different."_

"_I'm a God," Glory says like that explains everything. "True by human standards your...we call it back home the 'Code of Life'...is complex. For me it is not so much." She bends down and kisses Kal sweetly, tenderly. "So tell me Kal are you ready to make some babies?" she asks him huskily._

_The growing tightness in his jeans would kind of indicate yes. He kisses her passionately. "You really are a Goddess," he says, his own voice husky._

"_I know and you know what you have to do now."_

_Kal smiles tenderly at her before punching her in the face and flipping her off of him. Violence equals foreplay for Glory._

_They both get back to their feet grinning at each other before they charge at each other making the ground shake first from fighting and second from their love-making. The result of which they place in a warehouse prepared specially to house their offspring as they mature._

* * *

><p><strong>Back to the present...<strong>

"Your children?" Anya is the one to ask sounding totally shocked at the revelation.

Kal moves next to Glory and places his hand on top of the same...egg essentially as her. "Yep. They'll almost be as powerful as we are," he explains from what Glory told him they would be like. "They're warriors," Kal adds onto that. "Intelligent, powerful but not in possession of full free will. They will obey Glory and I without question. When they mature in a few years they'll be our soldiers with which we will conquer this planet."

"And more than that," Glory adds. "They'll be gorgeous!" she proclaims with absolute certainty. "After all look who their parents are," she gives as the explanation as to why they'll be gorgeous. "And this is only the first batch," Glory says grinning in anticipation of the many more mating sessions with Kal to come to breed more.

"Years?" Anya once more is the one to query since Dawn seems to have been stunned to muted silence.

Kal and Glory stand up straight and shrug. "We're immortal," Kal says.

"What's a few years to us?" Glory finishes off by asking the rhetorical question. "In the meantime we'll take over this two-bit town. It's a perfect breeding place sitting on top of a Hellmouth as it does. The mystical energy that leaks from the Old 'Boca del Infierno' is feeding our children as we speak. It will feed them by night while the sun will boost their growth by day," she says pointing at the roof which Kal fixed up to be retractable and allow sunlight in.

Simply it is the combination of Glory and Kal's genes that will allow their offspring to feed off both forms of energy and make them grow faster.

"You'll be stopped," Dawn says finally having found her voice.

"Aw. Cute. She's so feisty isn't she?" Glory says. "Well don't worry we'll soon knock that out of ya hon," Glory promises.

"Why am I even still alive?" Dawn asks. "You obviously don't need me," she surmises from the fact Glory is not going home anymore.

"But I do. You're still the Key Dawnie and one day I have plans to use you."

"I'll kill myself first," Dawn vows.

"Go right ahead," Glory tells her not in the least bit worried by the threat. She goes onto explain why. "Except you have to remember I'm now in possession of my full Godly powers. I can just bring you back to life or make you immortal."

Anya raises her hand. "Can I be immortal?" she asks not wishing to grow old and die.

"I'll think about it if you prove yourself useful," Glory decides.

Glory steps forward right up to Dawn and bends down to look the teenage girl in the eye. "Realise Dawn that there is nothing you can do to alter any of this now," Glory says sounding serious for once. "Be like your friend there," she says referring to Anya. "Learn to accept this and make the best of it. Think of it as a new beginning for you."

Dawn shakes her head. "No! Never!" she shouts defiantly or just in complete denial of the truth of the situation as it now faces her before making a run for it.

Glory and Kal could catch her easily but decide it best to let her try to escape and see how pointless it is. Kal fishes a small remote out of his pocket and hits the switch. There is a high pitched whining sound.

"What was that?" Anya asks.

Kal steps up next to Glory. "Do you think we would have told you any of this Anya if we could not be sure of keeping our children safe?" he asks rhetorically. "What do you think we are? Human? Full of human arrogance? Prone to making human mistakes? Puh-lease," he says scornfully. "I installed a Kryptonian shield generator which creates an impenetrable field around this entire warehouse. Nothing of this world either mystical or scientific can penetrate it. Even my darling Glory here would break a sweat in trying to do so and she is one of the most powerful beings in existence."

"Aw. You sweet talker you," Glory says giving Kal a playful shove.

Kal finishes, "When Dawn reaches the perimeter she'll bump into it and it'll knock her out cold but otherwise unharmed."

Why did they use Kryptonian tech you could ask? Simple really if Glory was to use her powers that much magic would be picked up by someone. Until their children are mature he and Glory will be going for mostly low profile. Even taking over the town they'll be there mostly behind the scenes. As for protecting the entire town Kal was working on installing a bigger shield generator which could cover the whole town making Sunnydale the secure base from which they launch their takeover.

"Uh...okaaay," Anya says not really understanding what he is on about.

"Now make yourself useful and go fetch my Key," Glory orders of Anya.

"I'll go get right on that," Anya says obediently and heads off after Dawn who by now would have reached the field and be unconscious.

"Will you really ever grant her immortality?" Kal wonders in relation to Anya.

"Perhaps if she is useful. Can't have her shrivelling up and dying if I can still use her."

Kal moves to behind Glory, wraps his arms around her and gently kisses her neck which always makes her purr contentedly. "So how long do you think it will take Dawn to figure out that you already made her immortal?"

Glory laughs softly. She had done that shortly after she stole Dawn away from that place in the desert. She can't risk having her little Key dying on her. It was all just another game. If Dawn ever finds the courage to try and end her life the look on the girl's face when she doesn't die will be priceless.

Kal nips the skin on the particularly sensitive spot on Glory's neck and she lets out a low growl. He keeps that up much longer and she will be ripping his clothes off right here.

"I still can't believe I'm a father," Kal admits with obvious happiness in his tone of voice. He never ever thought he would have children and to have these offspring makes him so happy.

"You're a father a few dozen times over. Eventually you'll be one several thousand times over."

Kal smiles against her neck. "Hmm. I look forward to fathering them with you several thousand times over."

Glory actually lets out a girlish sounding giggle at his enthusiasm at the two of them having sex...a lot. She turns around in his arms and wraps hers around his strong neck and kisses him. She then says the same thing she said to him that day they conceived their children as they lay together in the warm afterglow. 3 words Kal didn't think she would ever say because he didn't think she could genuinely feel the emotion. "I love you," she says.

Kal gives her the same reply now as he gave then. "I love you."

The two of them kiss once more.

Soon they both will embark on a Glory-ous New Beginning not only for themselves but for the whole world and the whole world won't know what hit it!

The End.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: I'm growing oddly attached to this world. I still have some crazy ideas like Kal and Glory getting a visit from the lawyers of Wolfram and Hart. A crossover with Angel of some kind. Perhaps one where Xander somehow survives but ended up on a desert island and now he returns many years later to find Glory and Kal have begun their world conquest. I'll see if I write any. No promises. Thanks to everyone who has written reviews.<em>


	9. After effects

**After-effects **

Summary: Buffy's Halloween costume choice has after-effects for both her and the person she dressed up as.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>Kara Zor-L, better known as Power Girl, or when she's in a civilian guise Karen Starr, stands upon a rooftop in Metropolis. Her short red cape flutters behind her as she stares out to the distance deep in thought. She had had a weird day.<p>

Ok she gets a lot of odd days. She's a superhero after all. More than that she is the last Kryptonian from a parallel universe to the one she currently resides in.

Her weird day comes courtesy of magic. Now she gets why Clark is always muttering how much he hates it.

Anyway she'll summarise this and hope to Rao it makes some sense. A teenager in another universe, where Kara is a comic book character, decided to dress up for Halloween as her. Now Kara can understand perfectly why someone would do that. After all who wouldn't want to be her.

Problems started when a magic spell made said teenager into person whose costume she was wearing and Kara found herself in this town in California called Sunnydale inhabiting the body of someone named Buffy Summers.

Kara will skip over the whole fighting vampires, breaking spell bit of the adventure and stick to the fact that she can't get out of her head some of Buffy's thoughts which had ended up being intermingled with her own. How that happened Kara has no idea. Stupid magic!

Lets rewind to Buffy discussing with her friend Willow her costume choice. That's the crux of the problem. That's the source of what is really bothering Kara right now.

"_You really think you can pull that off Buffy?" Willow asks a little sceptically._

"_Of course I can!" Buffy insists._

"_Well I mean I get why you identify with her. You're both kick ass blonds but...you don't exactly have the...she's taller."_

_Buffy rolls her eyes. "You just don't want to say the word breasts do you?"_

_Willow turns red as a beetroot. "Well you don't have the same...um...figure."_

"_I get it Will. I do and yeah I know I'm stretching believability but hey it isn't her figure that attracts me to her. That's hormonal teenage boys." Buffy looks at the white bodysuit she picked up from this new costume shop called Ethan's. "I never got it."_

"_Got what?"_

"_Why she never hooked up with Superman. I mean in the whole universe there's only one male Kryptonian left. If she wants kids that means there isn't exactly a lot of options...and even if there was can you imagine just what a real Superman would look like. I would be jumping on that train."_

"_Buffy!" Willow protests._

"_What?"_

"_What about Lois Lane?"_

"_They weren't dating when Power Girl first appeared. He was single and available."_

"_And happens to her cousin," Willow argues._

"_Is he?" Buffy questions that assertion. "She's from a parallel universe and they don't even spell their names the same. I'm not sure they ever did any test that proved it."_

"_Yeah but Superman?" Willow still questions. "Even if I buy that it has to be more than just 'hey lets bang out a few kids together!'"_

"_Ok PG is rather cynical about guys because basically they're only after one thing...two things."_

_Willow blushes at what Buffy is referring to. "Uh huh."_

"_Well Superman is not anything like that right? He's the good guy. The moral upstanding guy and even though Xander complains like crazy how dull he is written these days I know he wasn't always like that. He use to be much more interesting...passionate...god I bet he's passionate in bed!"_

"_Buffy!"_

"_Sorry. Sorry. Teenage girl fantasies. My point is...actually he only got dull after they married him off to Lois. Apparently that is the only make to make it work. Anyway my point is I think Clark and Karen would be perfect for each other. I think they would compliment each other. They understand each other...understand, you know, being alone on a strange planet and not ever really being able to be themselves. God it must be awful to have to hide away what you really are and not be able to show it. I mean I get that being the slayer."_

"_So really Power Girl and Superman as a couple?"_

_Buffy nods. "Sure. I never got why they never considered it."_

"_How do you know so much about comics?" Willow wonders._

_Buffy realises she is caught. She puts across this image of a shallow shopping obsessed air-head and she just blew it. "Uh...ok I'm a secret comic book nerd. Are you happy?"_

_Willow smiles, delighted by this confession. "Yes!"_

Kara...Karen shakes her head and tries to clear her mind. She wishes she could get the thoughts out but she can't. All she can think about is why did she never give Clark a chance. Yeah he bears a close resemblance to her actual cousin but they're far from identical. It took her awhile after she arrived in this world but she began to notice the differences. Clark's face was slightly differently shaped. His nose was different. His build wasn't identical either. Personality wise they were a world apart. Her Clark was older than her, older than the Clark here and more settled into his life. This one was her age and still seeking his place in this world.

Buffy Summers' ideas have infected her and Karen can't shake them.

Buffy was right. Karen was cynical about men. They saw her figure and basically decided she was to be another notch on their bedpost. She had been stung too many times by that...but like Buffy said Clark isn't like that. Clark is the only person on this planet that hasn't tried to sneak a look at her boobs. She even caught Batman taking a glance once.

The actual goddam Batman!

But putting aside herself Karen's thoughts turn to Clark. He had become...duller when he was dating Lois. More whiny in fact. Like he was...forcing himself into a role to make it work rather than being himself.

Now Karen would never force herself into any role. Yes relationships involve compromises but you shouldn't change fundamentally who you are.

Karen's gaze turns to the apartment block opposite. She activates her x-ray vision and spots Clark sitting alone in his apartment, debating with himself about what to have for dinner.

Him and Lois had gone splits-ville...again. Unlike the memory she got from Buffy they hadn't married...not yet anyhow and Clark was back living by himself and god did he look miserable. Karen had in fact noticed this when she bumped into Superman a couple of weeks back. The usual playful spark in his eyes was gone as of late and Karen really missed it to be truthful.

Clark's boyish good looks and self-deprecating humour combined with the fact he has just always been there for her when she needed him meant she felt she needed to cheer him up and be there for him...and if it led to something more between them...then she wouldn't object to that.

Ok she has to stop getting ahead of herself. Buffy's thoughts put the idea in her head but there was no need to rush. Be his friend first and foremost. She can do that.

* * *

><p>Clark Kent aka Kal-El aka Superman was trying to decide what to have for dinner. It would be ordering in...for one. Him and Lois...they were done it seemed...for the moment. Clark still wasn't sure what he had done wrong this time. He had tried really hard to make it work. He had tried to make himself a better man for her but apparently it wasn't enough.<p>

_'Is anything ever enough for that woman?'_ a cynical voice in his head asks.

Good question. Clark didn't have an answer. He raises his eyes slightly at the pair of thick rimmed glasses sitting on his coffee table. Some days he is really sick of those...of being that Clark Kent. It isn't him. Not the real one. The real Clark Kent is a farmboy from Kansas. Not this clumsy, meek, charade he puts on to hide he is Superman.

Clark sits back in his chair and closes his eyes. Now he isn't so hungry. He's more depressed than anything and it isn't like he can have therapy. He's not even human so no-one to share his problems with. It isn't like many people can understand his problems. Kara can to an extent but she's still a teenager and he isn't going to go whining to his baby cousin.

A small smile comes to his lips when he imagines her reaction if he ever said that and her retort about he is in fact her baby cousin.

Diana is another he could talk to...but she seemed more fixated on Bruce these days. Good luck with that! That's playing with fire considering what Clark knows that Bruce gets up to with Catwoman. Seriously for the world's greatest detective Clark would think Bruce would remember that he has a super sense of smell.

Clark's thought are interrupted by someone knocking on his door. He really hopes it isn't Mrs Simpson from down below. She's a widower and apparently he's fair game for a cougar. He shudders at the thought.

Clark sighs and leans forward to pick up his glasses. He slips them on as he makes his way to the door. He doesn't bother x-raying it first and just opens it. His eyes widen in surprise at whom he finds. "Karen?"

Karen smiles warmly. "Hi Clark! Can I come in? I brought dinner!" she enthuses holding up a couple of carrier bags. When she heard him talking to himself about dinner she was struck with what excuse she could use to show up at his door.

"Uh...sure come on in," Clark invites her, nonplussed to see her and to see her dressed so...casually. He has never seen her dress casually. It's either her costume or those business suits she wears but she is just in jeans and a light blue top. Of course on someone in possession of Karen's figure she made them look amazing.

Clark closes the door and watches Karen unpack the bags. He recognises the smell. "Thai?"

"It's your favourite right?"

"Um...yeah. It is," he says still very confused as to why she is here. She's never been in any of his apartments before. While he has tried to be there for her if she needed him he would not call them best friends or anything. They certainly didn't 'hang out'.

Karen smiles at him again. Clark has to say it's a very beautiful smile and not one he has ever seen on her face. Oh he's seen her smile. Just not that particular variant she is currently wearing. It's...softer, warmer, more caring...genuine is the word to describe it. It is not the forced one she puts on for the mask of being Karen Starr.

"Karen...I appreciate you bringing dinner but why are you here?" Clark wonders.

Karen heads over to his kitchen. "Where are your plates?"

"Top left cupboard. Karen. You're not answering me."

Karen reaches up and grabs a couple of plates. "I was just flying over the city and I remembered your break up and Rao don't I know how miserable that is so I decided to bring you dinner and keep you company. That's what friends do for each other right?" she asks him, basically thinking it up on the hoof.

"Yes," Clark says because he can't argue with that.

"Then here I am," she says, again wearing that smile.

Clark finds himself smiling a little in return. "Thank you," he says genuinely moved that she took the time to keep him company.

"No problem...although I'm sure I can think of some way for you to make it up to me," she says with a little mischievous air.

"Now you sound like Kara."

"Don't insult me by comparing me to that little snot Clark," she warns him. The way people are always comparing her and Kara really gets her steamed.

Clark rolls his eyes. He's pretty certain Karen and Kara had a punch up at some point although both deny it.

Karen brings the plates over and dishes out the food before she and Clark sit next to each other on the couch.

"I really don't get why you and Kara don't get along," Clark idly mentions.

"Uh because she's an annoying little twerp."

"She says the same thing about you."

"Like I care," Karen dismisses whatever Kara says about her.

"Karen...they're aren't exactly a lot of us left," Clark says softly, referring to their species.

"I know," Karen says softly. "But she's a brat Clark. An irritating little miss thinks she knows it all."

"Yeah. I know," Clark agrees. "But she's my cousin. I'm stuck with her."

"You have my sympathies."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Clark and Karen share a laugh.

Karen digs into her dinner. "At least you didn't say we should get along because we're the same person. Otherwise I would have punched you across the state line."

"I would never get my deposit back then Karen!" Clark jokingly protests because of the hole that would put in his wall

"Pft. No big loss. This place is a dump. My spare room is better. It's bigger."

"We're not all rich moguls Karen," Clark points out. Karen's spare room is bigger because she's rich. Very, very rich.

"If you ever need a place though," she offers.

"Thank you," he says genuinely. Clark tucks into his meal still a little confused about why she is here. He addresses something she said. "I never thought you and Kara were the same person."

"You didn't?" Karen says in some surprise. After she revealed her name it was the basic assumption everyone made.

Clark shakes his head. "I tried to imagine Kara at your age. What'd she look like and I never saw you. I mean there are similarities. That's obvious. You would pass for sisters but the same person? No."

Karen looks at him. This is a bit of a revelation. He had never said that before. Does that mean he doesn't buy into the assumption that he and she are cousins? Karen hopes so because that would mean she actually has a real shot at this. She won't ask that here and now about the cousin thing but one day she'll try and raise it in a conversation with him. She tucks back into her meal and her and Clark chat amicably in a way they never have before. She gets him to smile again and a little bit of the spark comes back to his wonderful cerulean blue eyes. It makes her think that maybe they could have something...once he's over Lois. She could help him get over Lois...and onto her.

Karen finds she really likes that idea and she really likes just sitting here with him. It's been so long since she has been with a guy and just enjoyed the simple company...and to think it is all because of the after-effect of one cocked up spell in another universe she finds herself here. The thought of her and Clark would never have entered her mind otherwise. She would not be here right now.

A downside could be that she now has a few of Buffy's memories she will now have to cope with. A few urges she has to control like this urge to go out and slay vampires and roll off quips while she is doing it. She could do it. This universe has vampires too...and well it's not like Karen needs the memories of a vampire slayer to dislike them. She's always disliked them.

On the plus side she now knows a few good new fighting moves. Maybe she could demonstrate them on that little snot Kara. She smiles at that idea.

Karen pauses for one moment as a thought strikes her. If she got some of Buffy's memories she wonders if Buffy got some of hers. She wonders what the after-effects for Buffy are.

* * *

><p><strong>The Buffyverse...<strong>

Buffy can look forward to a few peaceful nights. When she became Power Girl the superpowered heroine cleaned up Sunnydale as in she toasted like very vampire in town. Spike and Drusilla dust. Only Angel got spared because Willow vouched for him.

Oh Buffy knows the vamps will be back. This is Sunnydale, atop the Hellmouth. They'll be back but in the meantime she really needs to take advantage of the calm and relearn how to fight.

She has many of Karen's memories which can help because that means Buffy can now add a Kryptonian form of martial arts to her resume.

She didn't get to keep the powers. Bummer!

What really doesn't help is that she also got Karen's extra inches. Both height-wise and otherwise making her top heavy which throws her whole centre of gravity off. Seriously how does Karen live with these?

Buffy works the wooden dummy trying to realign her balance to her body's new centre of gravity. Even if she didn't get to keep the powers Buffy does feel like she has never been in better shape in her life because she got to keep Karen's perfect Kryptonian physique. Seriously she never had muscles this defined even as a slayer...and she isn't really complaining about being taller. She hated being short.

"Better," comes Giles' compliment at Buffy's improvement over the last few days.

"Thanks...but the better I need is better support for these puppies," Buffy says, gesturing at her greatly enhanced cleavage.

Giles chokes slightly, his cheeks go red and he does that thing he does when he cleans his glasses.

Buffy smirks. That was too easy. She could ask Xander but he passed out about 10 minutes ago when she did this spinning kick thing and she ended up bent over and he got a good view. So she turns to her best friend. "What do you think Will?"

No response.

"Will?" Buffy asks again.

"Huh?" Willow finally says.

Buffy walks over to the redhead and places her hand under her friend's chin. She raises Willow's head up. "Will. My eyes are up here!" she says pointing at them and not what Willow was looking at

"Yeah. I know that," Willow says a little mesmerised. Her eyes drift back down to Buffy's new 'enhancements'.

Buffy cannot believe Willow...is that drool running down Willow's chin? It brings up a question Buffy has to ask. "Will...are you gay?"

"I think I am now."

That's...that's...uh...some days Buffy really hates living on the damn Hellmouth!

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Buffy's hero: Power Girl so a little Halloween induced costume story was overdue and I always wanted to at least hint at a ClarkKaren ship and that was partially what this little collection was for. Thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews._


	10. Death Can Be A Kindness

**Death Can Be A Kindness**

Summary: On Halloween Buffy wears the dress of someone who truly knows what Hell is.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>Buffy looks through the Halloween costume store, searching for something like a noble woman's dress...something from Angel's time...back when he was alive. You know the 18th century or whenever he was born.<p>

She can't see anything...oh hello. What's this?

Buffy must admit to not knowing anything much about fashions of the past but this gown looks great. She grabs it, takes it to the counter and pays the English sounding guy who runs the shop. She leaves with a smile on her face.

Ethan watches the Slayer leave with a smile on his face. His spell will turn her into a normal girl. That should bring a good deal of chaos.

Ethan notices a frayed piece of white fabric sitting on the counter. Must have fallen off the dress. He picks it and sees it is a name tag.

For some odd reason he can't help but think it sounds vaguely familiar.

_I. Rasputin._

Ethan shrugs. He's sure it's nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>Later that night...<strong>

Buffy grabs her head as a wave of dizziness overwhelms her. She blinks and looks around and spots all the demons around her. It was almost like home yet it's not. She can sense it instantly...and something else. Chaos magic all around her, all around everywhere.

Well that explains how she's in a body not of her own. She had been able to tell instantly. More than that her..._teacher, tormentor, bastard who took her and twisted her into a monster, _worshipped Gods of Chaos so she is very familiar with the magic.

A few small demons approach her and she growls, her eyes flashing red. They instantly falter, some stop, some bow down in her presence. All seem to be able to sense she is something to obey or fear.

"Buffy!" a voice calls out.

Buffy turns her head as a boy dressed as a soldier and the ghost of a teenager red-haired girl come towards her.

"Um...you're not Buffy are you," the red-haired girl guesses.

"No...but you are...Willow, yes?" she queries.

Willow blinks, taken by surprise at the fact 'Buffy' knows her name and by the thick Russian accent she is speaking with. "H-How did you know that?"

"I can access my host's memories. It's a simple piece of magic. Now tell me what is going on?"

"I-I don't know. It's just everyone seems to have become their costumes. I dressed up as a ghost and now I'm a ghost. Xander dressed up as a soldier and now he's a soldier and you're..."

"Someone whose name you don't need to know," 'Buffy' dismisses the inquiry coldly.

"Uh...ok," Willow says off put by that. "Do you know what's going on?"

"It's a spell. From the signature it feels like Janus' work. He loves chaos...and whores."

"Look lady, let us stay focussed on the mission," the solider reprimands her, pointing at her.

"Take that finger out of my face before I rip it off, boy," 'Buffy' snarls, not angrily, but with dead seriousness as if she can and will do exactly what she says.

"Uh, lets not fight with each other. Fix this, first?" Willow suggests.

'Buffy' looks at Willow and smiles lightly. "You know you remind me of a friend of mine. Kitty is so going to laugh her ass off about this," she grumbles about that. "But you're right. Now everyone is their costume you said?"

Willow nods.

'Buffy' looks down at herself. "I wondered what had happened to this dress. It fell into a portal last time someone tried to usurp my throne."

"Throne?" Willow queries. Who did Buffy dress up as? It's obviously not some 18th century noblewoman...or at least not a normal one.

'Buffy' taps her chin. "Must have fallen into this world," she speculates as she searches her host's memories, all the time gaining knowledge and understanding of this world. "Costume shop. You all went to the same one, right?" she queries about the common thread she seems to have picked up.

Willow nods. "The new one in town. Ethan's..." She gasps as she realises what 'Buffy' is hinting at. "You think it's him?"

'Buffy' nods. "Seems a good place to start at least."

The soldier that was Xander Harris starts laying down one of those tedious military plans about moving from cover to cover, protecting each other...seriously he reminds 'Buffy' of Cyclops. She never listens to him either.

With a gesture of her hands 3 small circular portals appear beneath the 3 people and swallow them up. It then deposits them outside of Ethan's.

"What was that?" Willow asks.

"Stepping discs," 'Buffy' explains simply. "Luckily Limbo is a dimension that has to exist in every world as it is a focal point for all dimensions."

Willow's mouth moves but she's got nothing. Neither does 'Xander'.

"That and the dimensional barriers around this town are so weak a drunk 2 year old with a smidgen of power could break through them."

"Uh...I'm guessing that's the Hellmouth's doing," Willow says.

'Buffy' cocks her head. "Oh yes, this town sits on a gateway between the worlds," she accesses Buffy's memories once more. "You should really look into sealing that up. Trust me Hellmouth's always cause trouble" she advises.

"I'll, uh, speak to Giles about that."

"You do that."

'Buffy' turns her attention to the shop when someone calls out her name.

"Buffy!" a man with spiky black hair comes running

She turns her head and snorts in disgust. "When I break this spell tell you're friend to get better taste in men," she says to Willow.

"What?" Angel asks confused.

"Don't play the innocent with me _vampire,"_ she hisses hatefully.

"Uh, Buffy's not home at the minute," Willow explains before going on to tell Angel what is happening with the town and costumes.

"Then who are you?" Angel asks Buffy peering intently at her.

'Buffy' glares at him and Angel catches her eyes flash demonic red. "The question is who are you...Angelus."

Angel visibly flinches at hearing himself called that name. "H-How..." he stammers about how she knows who he is.

"I can see it, smell it, hear it, all those people who have killed and tortured. Their screams, their blood that stains you. It never leaves you and you will never redeem yourself. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can."

"But Angel's good!" Willow says in his defence. "Like a care bear with fangs."

Angel doesn't know whether to be insulted or touched about Willow's description of him.

"Don't be an idiot. He's still a vampire. A soul doesn't make him less a killer," 'Buffy' dismisses that defence out of hand. She looks at Angel. "Do you really think having a soul makes you who you were before you were turned? Does it make you human? Does it make you forget all those things you have done? Does it wipe away the stain of darkness inside you?"

Angel finds this person really disconcerting. It's like she is talking from personal experience. "No...but it helps me control it," he says in reply to her questions.

"For how long? I know one constant about vampires. In the end the thirst always wins. The darkness changes you. A snowflake can't survive in hell."

"What does that mean?" Willow asks as Xander looks out, being all soldier boy.

"Something my brother refuses to see," 'Buffy' murmurs softly. She then shakes her head as if refocussing herself.

"Well now isn't this interesting!" a new voice breaks into proceedings.

"Spike!" Angel spits out.

The blond Billy Idol wannabe smirks as a gang of kids now turned vampires encircle the small group.

"Ah the ensouled poof. Really you're hair is still awful."

Angel rolls his eyes. "Like yours wasn't...William," he says it with the Irish lilt he rarely uses any more.

Spike snarls. "It's Spike! Spike!" he insists, no longer wishing to be called his old name.

'Buffy' groans. "Can you two take this bromance somewhere else," she complains.

Spike smiles as he focuses in on her. "Right. Yes. I know all about what happened to you. Scared, pathetic, normal."

'Buffy' looks mildly amused actually. When Angel makes a move to defend her she raises a hand to stop him and holds it there in the air. "Uh huh. Before you try and feed off me you know the advantage this body has over my own?"

Spike blinks in confusion. "Nope."

'Buffy' strides toward him. A stride Angel recognises of a practised warrior. "This one has her soul almost completely intact. Therefore I can create a much more powerful one than my own body is capable of."

"More powerful what?"

'Buffy' grins one of true evil. "Soulsword."

And in her outstretched right hand a weapons begins to manifest. A sword glowing and pulsing with white pure energy. On her left arm armour appears to cover it. The white energy of the sword pulses brighter, flaring up, so much so it actually hurts for the vampires to be this close to it. Spike is so taken by surprise he barely raises his arms in time as the sword is swung at him. It does no good. It easily cuts through his arms and his neck, turning him to dust. 'Buffy' turns to the rest of the vampires present. "Anyone else?" she asks them.

They all bolt for it.

'Buffy' smirks as she pulls the sword back into herself. "Now then, now that distraction is over, lets break the spell shall we?"

'Buffy' walks up to the door and kicks it in to find Ethan in chaos mage robes. "You!" she points at him. "You will undo this or know my wrath," she tells him.

"Well that's kinda clichéd," Ethan says disappointed. "And why would I undo this? I am simply serving my Lord Janus."

'Buffy' rolls her eyes. "I don't have time for this or for stupid suck-ups trying to garner favour with that prick. Some advice, it works better if you're a whore. He really likes them."

Ethan prepares himself. He can feel magic coming off this girl. He must have misjudged that costume.

'Buffy' turns to her group. "Give me a minute to get it out of him," she requests and then she and Ethan vanish into two portals.

A minute later they reappear in the same fashion, only with Ethan on the ground, curled up in a ball, crying, weeping really.

'Buffy' marches through a curtain into the back of the shop.

A wave of mystical energy hits. Willow vanishes. Xander grabs his head and stumbles. Angel catches him...which he instantly regrets because he doesn't like Xander.

'Buffy' returns holding the statue of Janus.

"What did you do?" Angel asks.

"I restricted the spell so it only works on the one holding the statue," 'Buffy' explains. "I'm not done here yet."

"I meant with him," Angel points at Ethan.

"Oh him. I merely took him home and gave him the right..._motivation _to tell me what I wanted to know."

Angel shivers. There was something really wrong with this woman, whoever she is. The demon in him can practically feel the evil. In fact the demon in him is kinda turned on by her.

"Now maybe he'll learn not to mess with powers beyond him," 'Buffy' remarks.

At this point Giles and Jenny arrive. Giles ready to save the day. "Oh you're here already," he says stupidly.

"Ah yes the Watcher," 'Buffy' says. "I wanted to talk to you," she says with a hint of dark intent.

"She's still her costume," Angel explains.

"And so I shall remain until I smash this idol."

"Where's Willow?" Xander asks, his mind groggily aware of what has happened.

"I would assume back in her body, wherever it was when the spell was cast. Lets hope it was somewhere safe or you may have to look out the wooden stakes."

Xander goes stiff.

"Angel can you please find Willow," Giles requests, knowing the vampire's enhances senses would be the most expedient way. "I promise I'll get Buffy back."

Angel is torn but he knows Buffy would want him to find Willow so he reluctantly leaves.

"Thank god he's gone. You know you're making a terrible mistake allowing your charge to date him. That curse holding his soul in place is tenuous at best."

"What do you know of it?"

"More than you and I don't even know the terms of the spell cast."

"Some kind of gypsy curse," Giles says all he knows about it.

"Ah yes. Gypsies. They sure love their curses," 'Buffy' remarks as if this is a rather well-known and annoying fact.

"Who are you?" Giles asks.

"We'll get to that but first off Rupert...can I call you Rupert?"

Giles nods.

"Well Rupert let me ask you this? Who the hell do you Watchers think you are?!" 'Buffy' practically screams with fury.

Giles is taken aback. "I-I don't know what you mean?"

"I can see it. The Slayer essence inside this body and I know how it was done. It was vile. You took a scared little girl, chained her to the ground and forced a demon essence into her to fight your wars you were too cowardly to."

"Giles?" Xander asks.

"It was thousands of years ago!" he protests.

"Oh no that's a lie. You can't just taint someone with a little darkness and expect nothing to happen! You can't just touch the darkness. One touch, one taint and it consumes you. That's why Slayers always die young. It varies depending on the strength of the person but eventually the darkness takes over, consumes their soul. They let themselves die before they become no better than the monsters they fight. Not consciously. Sub-consciously...and you know this!" 'Buffy' accuses Giles. "It's not happening in the past. It's happening now and you let it!"

"I can't undo what was done," Giles says. "This world needs a Slayer!"

"No it needs to stop living in self-denial. Something the Watchers make sure keeps happening. What does it say about you that you send little girls to fight your wars for you?"

"I do what I can to help her," Giles argues.

"I know you think that...and from what I can see inside me you're probably better than most Watchers. They're all connected you know. I can see every Slayer back down the line, century after century," she says in a tone that conveys the true scope of what she is seeing.

"Who are you?" Giles asks again.

'Buffy' smiles...coldly. "I'll tell you in a moment but before you need to promise me something?"

"What?"

"When I leave kill Buffy."

"What?!" Jenny, Xander and Giles exclaim together.

"When I leave she'll remember me, she'll have my memories and you don't want that. Trust me."

"How can we when we don't know you," Jenny says.

"And yeah, we're not killing Buffy!" Xander insists.

'Buffy' looks at him. "You like comics right?"

Xander nods.

"Then you should know my name and why I said what I have. I am Illyana Nikolievna Rasputin."

"Shit," Xander swears.

"What?" Giles and Jenny asks.

"She's Magik."

"Who?"

"The X-Men...a New Mutant. When she was a child she was..."

"Abducted and taken to a Hell dimension called Limbo where I was raised by its ruler to be his apprentice," Illyana fills in.

"It was worse than that," Xander says.

"Oh much, much worse."

"Xander?" Giles inquires.

"Belasco...his name was Belasco...he planned to use her in a ceremony to summon a group of crazy dark Gods. He needed...he needed a pure soul."

"So he ripped mine out, piece by piece," Illyana relays what happened. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to have pieces of your soul ripped out Rupert?"

Giles shakes his head.

"Well Buffy does now. She will know what it is like to be raised in Hell dimension full of things you can't imagine in your worst nightmares. She will remember all the things...the terrible things I have seen and that I have done. She will know what it is like to walk around when 3 fifths of your soul are gone. Do you know what a demon is Rupert? It's a being with no soul. I'm missing over half of mine. I'm more demon than human."

"That's why you were so angry about the Slayers," Jenny realises. "It reminded you of what was done to you."

"I hate Belasco. I killed him but what I hate the most is that no-one can ever understand what it is he did to me. They look at me like it can be fixed. Like I can be made whole again, like I was before. My brother is the worst and I indulge them. I walk around pretending I'm a teenage girl just like them. It makes them comfortable. They will never see the truth because they don't understand the darkness. I can't be fixed. Nothing can wipe out what was done to me. I am a monster who pretends she's a girl...just like your precious Slayers. That's why I am an authority in saying you should kill her because like me she will never be able to be fixed after tonight."

"Not going to happen," Xander says.

Illyana sighs, disappointed but not at all surprised. "You are so foolish. I gave you my warning. The consequences of not heeding me are on your own heads. You think sparing someone is a kindness. You're wrong. You will learn that sometimes death is the real kindness."

And with those final words Illyana throws the statue to the ground, smashing it.

* * *

><p><strong>Some time later...<strong>

After Illyana smashed the statue Buffy fell down to her knees and sobbed. Everyone thought, her included at first, that it was because of what she retained about Illyana's memories but they were wrong. Even Buffy hadn't realised why she was really crying.

It also didn't take long to realise Illyana's legacy was going to be a long one.

For days afterwards Buffy had felt this mysterious pull to be somewhere...somewhere else and then one day the urge got so strong, Buffy wished it so much, it happened. Buffy went there.

Limbo.

Like Illyana said it exists in every world, some version of it.

The thing about Limbo is that time is kind of fluid here. When Illyana vanished with Ethan for a minute, she brought him here and while here she overthrew this version's ruler and paved the way for Buffy's takeover before subjecting Ethan to horrors that reduced him to a sobbing wreck.

And Buffy has the memories required, the knowledge left by Illyana of dark magic, to control and rule this place.

Illyana knew exactly what would happen and she prepared the ground for it. Everything that followed comes from what she did during that time she was in Limbo.

But Illyana's true legacy...oh no-one saw that coming because no-one listened to her. No-one ever listens to her...not really.

You can't just touch the darkness and not expect it to consume you. It had taken months but slowly, bit by bit, the darkness consumed Buffy until what was left of her now sits, brooding on the throne of Limbo, looking dispassionately at those who use to be her friends, on their knees in front of her.

Giles, Willow, Xander, Cordelia too because Buffy was feeling particularly vindictive about it.

"Buffy!" Willow pleads to her.

"Buffy," she scoffs at her own name. "Buffy Summers is gone. You should have listened to Illyana and killed me."

"We would never give up on you, Buff. We never will," Xander insists.

Buffy throws her head back and laughs. "You are fools!" she hisses. "You have no idea what Illyana did. She told you. She's a monster. When she broke the statue and left she took it from me."

"Took what?" Giles asks.

"The 3 fifths of my soul she was missing from hers. She took mine to fill in the gaps and left me exactly like her." And that was why Buffy cried. She was crying for the soul that was ripped from her body. Illyana was once again right. None of them could imagine what it feels like to have pieces of your soul ripped out.

"Way to be over dramatic," Cordelia mutters.

Buffy grins evilly. "Oh you'll learn Cordy. You'll learn exactly what I am now. You'll learn that Illyana was right."

"Where's Jenny?!" Giles demands to know, because when Buffy abducted them and brought them here Jenny had originally been with him but now she was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh the gypsy traitor," Buffy says with an odd smile. She hops up from her throne and moves towards her 'friends' who are held down by her demon minions. She bends down and whispers into Giles ear. "I'm teaching her."

"Teaching her what?"

"Exactly what her clan did to Angel."

"How?"

"Isn't it obvious," Buffy says with a dark gleam in her eyes.

"Y-you didn't?" Giles says in horror, revulsion.

"Oh I did," Buffy confirms. "Right now a demon is walking around Earth with Jenny Calender's face and once she has had her fun, tormenting and killing like any good vampire, I'll stuff her soul back in there, stand back and watch the show!" she declares with merriment.

Giles can't believe this is the same Buffy he knew.

"A-And Angel?" Willow asks, tears rolling down her face at seeing this twisted version of her best friend. She asks because no-one has seen him for days before Buffy came for them.

"Oh lover boy!" Buffy calls him. "Man did I give him his perfect moment of happiness," she says with a smug smile. "Then he stopped being fun," she pouts. "So I cut his head off," she says casually with a shrug.

"How did he stop being fun?" Cordy dares to asks.

"His curse. One moment of perfect happiness, should he ever experience it, no guilt or remorse for his crimes, then the curse is broken and he becomes Angelus again and he's no fun like that. He feels nothing. Watching Angel suffer for what Angelus did, now that was entertainment!" Buffy calls it, the enjoyment she felt at seeing Angel's torment.

"You're mad," Xander finally finds the way to verbalise it.

"If I am mad then is because it is what you all allowed me to become," she says in reply. She walks back to her throne and stands in front of it. "You want to see it?" she asks in a childish tone. "You want to see what I am now?"

Buffy closes her eyes and allows her body to shift into its true form. Ram-like horns grow from her head, her legs become hairy, cloven goat legs, a red spaded tail appears and swishes through the air. Her mouth opens as she gasps in pain as her body shifts and it shows lengthened canines like fangs and a long forked tongue. Her eyes snaps open to reveal a demonic blood red colour to them. "Happy?" she queries, her voice deep, raspy and menacing.

How did she come to this point Buffy can only guess. With most of her soul gone it would have been easier for the demonic Slayer essence to consume her. Perhaps it was Illyana's own darkness that got left behind. It doesn't matter. Like Illyana she understands now. "A snowflake can't survive in hell," she repeats the words Illyana spoke. Anything good about you is destroyed.

Buffy summons one last piece of Illyana's legacy and pulls what remains of her soul into a single weapon that manifests in her right hand. A glowing white representation of the fragments of her soul. The soulsword.

She sits down on her throne, the soulsword point on the ground and she rests her chin on her hands holding it. "Now then time for why I brought you here," she decides.

"Buffy," Giles makes one final attempt to reach her.

"Buffy is dead," she hisses. "I am the Ruler of Limbo. Sorceress Supreme of this Hell. I am the Darkchylde and from now on you shall address me as Mistress. You are no longer my teacher Giles. I am yours. Time for your first lesson," she says with a malicious tone. "My minions take them away and do with them as you please," she permits before adding the caveat, "but they are to remain alive. If you kill them you shall answer to me!"

"Yes Mistress," the demons reply obediently but the evil delight in their eyes at what they have been permitted to do is clear.

"But why?!" Willow pleads, openly crying.

"So you understand what Illyana meant that day she told you to kill me. You should have listened to her and in about...ooh, 10 minutes I should think you will understand what it means that death can be a kindness."

And with that her friends are dragged away, pleading with her to stop, but the Slayer formerly known as Buffy Summers simply leans back in her throne, a sick smile on her face as their pleas fall on deaf ears. When the first screams start she smiles even more. Oh yes, they will soon be begging for death but she will not grant it. After all that would be a kindness and kindness is something she no longer possesses.

With her friends 'busy' Buffy turns her attention to her last link to Earth. The next person she has to teach a lesson. A person who called her names and didn't trust in her. Insane was she? Delusional was she? Well she'll show this person the truth of the world. She opens a portal and looks into Sunnydale. She taps her chin as she searches through the town. "Now where are you my dear mother..."

The End.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Illyana really hasn't had many moral scruples about stealing souls from people, ask Pixie. I might be exaggerating it a little for the story but she's been plenty evil over the years. You could argue Buffy is strong enough to resist it but I wanted a dark ending so I just decided she couldn't. I know it's been awhile since I added anything to this collection but thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews. I much appreciate them.<em>


	11. Glory vs Jasmine

**Glory vs Jasmine**

Summary: Set in the Glory-ous verse. It should be epic...it's really not.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>Everything was going according to plan for the being who allowed herself to be called Jasmine. No-one knew her real name. No-one could be allowed to as she came from a time when names had power and if hers was spoken she would lose her power and her hold over humanity.<p>

Ok Jasmine might have to amend that everything going to plan comment. Fred had found that if Cordelia's blood was mixed with someone's Jasmine's hold over them was broken but it would not matter soon. Fred and those she freed, Gunn, Wesley and Lorne, were locked up in the basement of the hotel. As for the ensouled vampire called Angel he would not survive the world he had travelled to in an attempt to stop her.

Nothing could stop her. She already had effective control over LA. Wolfram and Hart had been neutralised and when she speaks on a world-wide broadcast effectively this world will be hers and its people will worship her.

Jasmine steps out onto the walkway above the lobby in the hotel and smiles down at her followers. Time for her début. She addresses the world. "Please. Please stand," she tells the people who are bowing down in her presence. "This is a moment to cherish, and I want everyone to share it with me, heads held high. Welcome. And to all those people of this remarkable world who are meeting me for the first time..." She blows a kiss to the crowd. "mmwah. I want to thank you for allowing me to speak with you. I come to you not as a leader or divinity, but as your partner in a venture to make this the best of all possible worlds, without borders, without hunger, war, or misery. A world built on love, respect, understanding, and, well, just enjoying one another. Doesn't that sound nice?" she asks with a smile.

"I think it sounds terrible!" a voice interrupts, sounding disgusted.

Jasmine brow drops and anger comes to her features. "Who dares?"

A blond woman in a hot to drop red dress wanders amongst the crowds below. There is an air of absolute power radiating from her. "You know it's a pretty pathetic deity that has to resort to mind-control to get people to worship her."

"Glorificus!" Jasmine hisses as her beyond human abilities see this 'woman' for what she really is.

Glory smirks. "Hey there!" she says with a goofy wave. "How long has it been..._Jasmine_?" she asks with a quirky smile at saying that false name...and Glory knows it to be false. "So it's been what? 3...4 million years since we last saw each other?"

"What are you doing here?" Jasmine demands to know, the mask of the benevolent deity slipping in her anger.

Glory laughs. "And there ladies and gents and pathetic meatsacks is your great all knowing deity," she mocks Jasmine for not knowing.

"You cannot dissuade us of the true beauty of Jasmine's benevolence," one foolish mind-controlled man says to Glory.

Glory's response is to snap his neck like a twig. "And you won't be getting back up because I cut you off from her the second I touched you," she says to the now lifeless corpse, referring to the fact everyone connected to Jasmine can't die until Jasmine decides so...unless you're an amazingly powerful and Glory would add gorgeous Hell God like she is.

Glory dusts her hands off and looks back up at Jasmine "Now where were we? Oh I know. You wanted to know what I'm doing here. Well kind of a long story but my brothers and I had a teensy tiny disagreement about the fact it is my right to rule without question or equal. Long story short they kicked me out and dumped me on this little mudball of a world. Now what happened next is a really, really long story I don't want to retell but essentially I decided that this world is mine and no pretend deity like you, hon, will have it...which is why I'm here right now. I'm going to kill you," she says in a far too cheery tone.

Jasmine's face darkens. "You are nothing!"

Glory laughs some more. "Oh please," she scoffs. "You are not even in my league," she says dismissing Jasmine. "And unlike you I don't need to resort to eating people to sustain myself. You are the most pathetic deity I have ever had the pleasure...no wait displeasure of having to lower myself to talking to. By the way have you met my Consort?"

Jasmine frowns before a gust of wind blows her hair about and she finds standing next to her a tall man with dark curly hair and cerulean blue eyes.

"Don't bother trying your little mind control on him. He's under my protection," Glory tells Jasmine. "And oh he has really big muscles. Show her honey!"

Before Jasmine can react she is punched hard sending her smashing through the railing and down to the floor at Glory's feet.

"Ooh. That had to hurt," Glory comments with a smile.

Jasmine holds the side of her face as she stands up, in shock at how much that hurt! "You will pay for this!" she spits out, furious.

Glory has her fingers curled and is looking at her nails with a frown. "Hmm...sorry what? I didn't hear you. I was thinking I was needing a manicure."

"Glorificus!" Jasmine yells.

"That's Glory hon," Glory corrects Jasmine. "Now at this point everyone is probably expecting some _epic _battle between 2 Gods...well 1 God and a wannabe 'Higher Power'," she mocks, going as far as making air-quotes with her fingers. She rolls her eyes. "Higher Power, really?" she questions that. "The fact is I can wipe the floor with the lot of ya with one hand tied behind my back. Doesn't that make me the Higher Power?"

Jasmine's eye twitches. "4 million years and you're still as vain and egotistical as ever," she grumbles

"Uh, no. That implies I'm exaggerating my awesomeness which I most surely never do. I am everything I say I am...which is more than you can say because I can see the real you under that Glamour spell, honey. Seriously you need to moisturise," Glory advises. "You see that's the difference between me and you. I make this taking human form look good!" she declares with complete arrogance and self-belief in herself.

"Glorificus I swear..." Jasmine starts to say before she is cut off by a simple, hand raise by Glory.

"Again. It's Glory. It's short, simple and reflects everything I am. Now before we get down to the whole 'epic' fight thing that will level this city and kill several hundred thousand worthless meatsacks let me explain a few things to your brainwashed minions here. One of which is that you and I come from different eras defined by different laws. In the era you come from words, names in particular, have the power to reshape reality. In fact all it takes to render you to nothing is to know your name but there is no-one on this world that knows it is there?" Glory's smiles grows huge and cocky. "Well except me of course."

Jasmine prepares to silence Glory but it is too late as a strange inhuman sound escapes Glory's lips. Jasmine cries out in pain as white light consumes her before the spell hiding her true form collapses to reveal a maggot infested corpse.

"Ugh," Glory says making a disgusted face. "No wonder you used that glamour spell because seriously that is making my stomach lurch and considering I'm a Hell God from a dimension whose horrors are beyond comprehension and compare that is saying something."

At seeing her true form the people scream and leave in panic. Jasmine's hold over them is broken.

Jasmine's form takes on a less horrendous form but her flesh is still rotting in places. "No! Please don't go," she pleads to them.

Glory smiles cruelly. "Well now, that was easy wasn't it?"

"You will pay for this!" Jasmines screams.

Glory rolls her eyes. "You sound like a child. Wah, wah, wah," she mocks.

Jasmine, in her anger, strides forward, ready to fight Glory, only to stop a few steps away, a pain in her chest. She looks down to see a fist has been punched right through her from behind and in the fist is her own heart. "That's..." is all she manages as she falls down to the ground dead.

Glory looks up and smiles salaciously at her beloved Kal, Jasmine's heart in his hand. God he was magnificent. She even has to congratulate herself on the job she has done turning him into her perfect Consort. She gets a pleasant thrill just from the sight of him.

Glory steps up to him and kisses him deeply. "Hmm, we should go home so I can screw you senseless."

"Ugh, my work is never done," Kal jokily complains.

Glory chuckles, something she never use to do very much, but she's been on Earth a long time now and yeah, it has affected her a bit but it's worth it as long as she has Kal and their children.

Glory looks down at Jasmine. She lip curls in disgust. "What a pathetic joke!" she insults the dead higher power.

"So is she truly gone?" Kal asks.

"Yep. She sacrificed everything to take a corporeal form. Besides I would never let her ascend herself back in any case." Glory snaps her fingers and the corpse turns to ash. Glory wraps her arms around her muscular Consort. "Now we should get back to Sunnydale before the others sight returns. Jasmine had cut them off but with her gone they'll be back and we're not quite ready to dominate this world so need to keep on the down low a little longer."

After all this is why she came. If Jasmine had been allowed to succeed even Glory would have had a hard time taking this world from her. Luckily Jasmine's entrance into this world hadn't exactly been subtle. Glory means really, fire from the sky. Who is going to miss that? And if anyone is going to make a showy entrance it's going to be her!

"But soon we will be," Kal prophesies about the plans he and Glory have for the world.

"Very soon," Glory says with a devious smile of delight. The conquest, the battle, the slaughter, oh dear Her, the mere thoughts of what is to come makes her panties wet. "Bed, now," she growls lustfully as she snaps her fingers and she and Kal vanish back home.

Moments after they're gone lightning erupts as a portal is torn into the very fabric of reality and out steps Angel, who had gone to a literal Hell to find the way to defeat Jasmine. The severed head is in his hand of the one who knows Jasmine's true name. He looks around...to find everyone gone, a dead body and a pile of ash on the ground.

Ok. What did he miss now?!

The End.

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><p><em>Author's Note: On paper Glory vs Jasmine should be epic except for that little catch where knowing Jasmine's true name takes away her power. It was a nice quirk for the story but it kinda puts Jasmine at a disadvantage against another powerful deity who happens to know her name. I've had this sitting around for awhile wondering if I should finish it and I decided in the end why not? Thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews.<em>


	12. Hidden Self

**Hidden Self**

Summary: One of the Avengers isn't who they claim to be and Dr Doom is going to prove it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p><strong>Castle Doomstadt, Latveria...<strong>

The day had started with a surprise and unprovoked attack on the Avengers Mansion by Doombots, the robotic footsoldiers of Dr Victor Von Doom, ruler of Latveria, foe of the Fantastic Four and would be world conqueror.

At first surviving the assault had been the main concern, especially when it turned out the robots were essentially walking bombs with enough explosive force to level a quarter of New York.

The Avengers managed to avert that but it was only then they realised the main point of the attack. It had been to capture one of their own. The Black Widow, Natasha Romanova.

In the end that made more sense than some attack that looked like an act of desperation. Doom was many things but prone to acts of desperation he was not. No. There was a reason behind the kidnapping. What that was truly baffled the Avengers but for the moment they stowed it for the more pressing need of getting Black Widow back.

As for Natasha herself, she awoke to find herself sealed inside some kind of transparent sphere. Her gaze soon fixated on the metal covered ruler of Latveria who appeared to be watching her, studying her.

"Ms Romanova," Doom greets her in his cold metallic voice.

"Doom. What do you want?"

"Ah yes, never one for the niceties are we," Doom comments at how she is cutting right to it.

"You want to see how _nice_ I am, release me and I'll show you," Widow threatens, her voice, in its own way, as cold and chilling as Doom's can be.

"I think not," Doom refuses. "And as for what I want. It is simple. An answer."

"A what?" Widow blinks.

"To a question," Doom elaborates.

"What question?"

"Who are you?"

Widow is a little, no scratch that, very confused. "You know."

"No," Doom contradicts her. "You see Doom always studies his enemies and I have studied every single one of the Avengers. In time Doom understands all. Where you come from, what motivates you except in your case Ms Romanova. You are an anomaly. You do not make sense. You should not exist."

"You're babbling Doom. I think your mask is on too tight," Widow insults him.

"Don't waste mine or your time on childish insults," Doom warns her. "We are both above such things. Leave them to that pathetic fool of that partner of yours, Mr Barton."

"I have no idea what you are on about," Natasha gives the truly honest answer because she's completely baffled by Doom's train of thought.

"Then Doom will explain it to you," he offers. Holographic images pop up all showing Black Widow at varying stages of her life. "This is your entire life," he explains to her. "Now tell me what is missing."

Natasha's eyes take the images in and like the good spy she is she notices the pattern. "That's not my whole life. There are no images of me before I was 20."

"Excellent," Doom praises her. "Now tell me why there aren't."

"You tell me. It's your slide show."

"Because there aren't any. You don't exist before then. You simply appear as if from nowhere," Doom gets to what it is that caught his attention so. That anomalous fact that she just appears in the world as a 20 year old. "Now explain that," he challenges her to do so.

"I've erased my early life," she gives her explanation. She had to. To become who she is she had to cut any ties to her past.

"No erasure is so complete that you can hide from Doom," he boasts. "Can you even remember your childhood?"

"How is that relevant?"

"Your parents? The school you attended? Your childhood friends?"

"My parents are...dead," she says with a strange momentary pause. Her eyes blink. Memories strain just beyond her ability to comprehend them.

Doom continues as if she didn't say anything. "When you were a child where did you play? Did you climb trees? Run through the grass?"

A pain lances through Natasha's head as she sees a brunette girl dancing through the knee high red grass with a forest nearby with trees whose silver leaves glisten in the sun as if on fire and as the wind blows through them they sound like the most beautiful song. Her hand goes to her head.

"What was your best friend's name?"

A name, no but images of several men flash across her mind. Most prominent are of a man with curly hair and bright teeth and this ridiculously long scarf and another in Edwardian like dress and another, a battle-hardened face with large ears, a leather jacket and a bandoleer.

"Answer me!" Doom demands.

"Shut up!" Widow screams. "Just...just shut up!"

Doom cups his hands behind his back. "Good," he seems strangely satisfied with that. "We're getting closer."

Natasha now has both hands pressed to her skull as her brain feels like it wants to explode. "I...I don't know what you want," she says.

"The truth. The one Doom believes you have hidden even from yourself. You really don't remember your childhood because you didn't have one."

"No. I did. I..." she trails off struggling with herself. "I had parents. I was born in Stalingrad. They died when I was young."

"Convenient," Doom remarks, showing how that only fits in with his accusation that she didn't have a childhood like she claims.

Widow glares at him. "I can list where I lived. The school I attended."

"Dry facts pasted into your mind to give just enough of a back story to help you pass into society. Lesser men wouldn't notice but I am Doom."

Doom turns and walks away from her and sits on his throne at the other side of the room. "Lets us start again. Who are you?"

"Go to hell Doom," Widow spits as her hand goes to her chest and she can feel the locket she wears underneath. She's always had that locket. Can't remember where she got it. Can't even remember exactly what it looks like. Only that she has always worn it and always will.

"This is Hell...as far as you're concerned Ms Romanova. Again. Who are you?"

"Natalia Alianovna Romanova," she gives what it says on her birth certificate. She's changed her name slightly over the years.

"Incorrect," Doom states. "And you will stay here until you give Doom the correct one."

"Or what? You going to torture me?"

"Ms Romanova I am above such crude methods. I leave them to the so called Land of the Free," he says, mocking the United States and the accusations of the way it treats terrorist suspects.

Doom presses a button on the arm of his throne and around Natasha curved metal tube, matching the curve of the sphere pops up from the floor. It emits a light and starts moving around her like it is...

"Huh. A bimolecular scanner," she remarks. "Capable of analysing me down to my atomic structure I assume."

"Subatomic level," Doom corrects her.

"Doubtful," she remarks, sounding suddenly very arrogant almost. "You can't have possibly compensated for the uncertainty principle of the position and energy of subatomic particles. That's way beyond you."

"But not you?"

"I graduated from the Academy with some of the highest marks ever recorded. A triple first."

"In what?"

"Everything."

"And what Academy would this be?"

"The one on Gall..." Natasha stops as if she suddenly realises what she is saying. Her hand lifts away from her chest.

"Closer to the truth," Doom comments.

"I...what? What was I saying?" Widow asks, very confused, as if she can't remember what she was saying or where any of that came from and her head just feels worse and worse. It's pounding.

"Again," Doom states. "Your childhood. Where were you born? Where did you grow up?" he starts over again with the questions.

"I told you! Arcadia!" she yells out in frustration, her control being pushed to the limits.

"Arcadia?" Doom questions her answer.

"I...what have you done to me?" Natasha wants to know. She usually isn't that forthcoming with her life. "You've...you've used a spell on me," she realises. "Truth spell?"

"Nothing so mundane. What Doom seeks is the truth you've hidden from yourself, Ms Romanova. The spell needs to go deeper than simply preventing you from lying. Now describe this Arcadia to me? Where is it? What does it look like? How many people live there?"

"No-one. No-one lives there. Everyone's dead," she says, her voice pain-filled. Images flash before her eyes of some terrible battle, thousands of people dying, flying-saucer like ships in the sky firing down and these...things. There machines, pepper-pot shaped things. She's had a lot of dreams about them over the years. Lots of dreams of battles, terrible battles filled with horrors that make any war on this planet look like a playground shoving match. Dreams that make her hate with a passion she didn't know possible.

Doom brings his hands together so the tips of his fingers are touching in front of him. They were making progress.

"My Lord," a robotic female voice speaks belonging to Doom's cybernetic servant Lucia Von Bardas. "My apologies for the interruption but the Avengers jet has been detected approaching Latverian airspace."

"Destroy it," Doom commands. He can't be interrupted now. Not when he is getting closer to the truth.

"Yes, Lord Doom," Von Bardas obeys.

Natasha snaps out of her thoughts. A smile almost tugs at her lips at hearing that the Avengers are coming. She'll be out of here soon now. She just has to resist answering more questions for a short time longer.

When she hears the fact the jet is shot down. She doesn't worry. Why? Because they're not that foolish to try a frontal assault. Must be a diversion.

When Doom rises to his feet and shoots an energy bolt from his right index finger she knows it is. The blast hit an invisible Iron Man, shorting out the stealth mode and shocking him enough to drop him to the ground.

Von Bardas' arms transform into weapons which she begins firing at Iron Man. She is set upon by the Black Panther.

"So much for avoiding an international incident," Iron Man grumbles. They were trying to do this the sneaky way. "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" he calls out.

Outside the castle another Avengers Quinjet also appears from behind an invisibility cloak and leaping from it come the rest of the team. Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, Wasp, Ant-Man and Spider-Man. Really they should have brought Thor but he was in Asgard and all they could find who hadn't been hurt in Doom's initial attack was Spider-Man. Hawkeye had been making a joke about that all the way from the States to here.

Doom stands dismissively calm. He presses a switch on his armour and 4 large sections of the floor open up and giant sized Doombots rise out of them. He then turns his back and walks over to the wall where the results of his scans on Black Widow should be coming up. He leaves his servants to deal with the trash.

Natasha is hating this. Doom stripped her of her weapons and there is literally nothing in here that can assist her to escape this and help her teammates. She bangs on the sphere futilely.

While the Avengers fight the robots Spider-Man swings over to try and get Widow loose. "Hey there my similarly spider-themed comrade," he greets her in his usual joky manner, putting on the worse Russian accent ever. "Don't you worry, ol' Spidey will get you of this Gulag!"

Widow pinches her nose. As if her head wasn't sore enough she's got to listen to this idiot...though she knows deep down he's actually not a bad kid. His never ending talk kinda reminds her of the Doctor.

Widow frowns. Doctor? Doctor who? Why did she think that?

As Spider-Man tries to figure out the controls to pop the sphere open Widow watches the fight against Doom and winces slightly when Doom delivers a punch that knocks the Hulk, yes the actual Hulk, through the wall and out the building.

The Avengers take care of the Doombots and Doom's little cybernetic bitch easily enough but Doom, as always, is going to be much harder to take down.

Hawkeye's latest arrow misses as Doom swiftly swings out of the way and the Avengers advance on the armour wearing tyrant.

"Doom!" Iron Man commands. "You can't win this. Surrender!"

"Doom does not surrender," is the ominous reply.

"Take him down!" Iron Man orders and fires a blast which is absorbed by an energy shield. Doom retaliates with a blast of his own which levels Iron Man.

"Today would be good Spider-Man," Widow mutters as the fight does not go well with Doom felling the Avengers one by one.

"But no pressure right," he quips, although under his mask his face is one of deep focus. Doom was really smart and he was having a hard time trying to break the access code. Just then his spider-sense goes off and he is forced to leap out of the way of a blast from Doom. He leaps at the armoured despot only to bounce off Doom's shield so he fires a webline and swings away while he rethinks. "Hey Doomsy! How's it going?" he asks.

"Irritating arachnid," Doom mutters.

"Hey you know I always have to give you credit for getting it right," he says in reference to Doom calling him an arachnid and not bug or insect as so many others call him wrongly. "So tell me Doc, what is it with kidnapping the sexy redhead? I mean, sure, I totally get having a soft spot for them but you do realise she knows a hundred ways to kill you, right?"

"148," Widow gives the precise number of ways she can currently think of to kill Doom. Give her a few minutes and she'll raise that number over 200.

"Are you lonely? Is that it? That iron clad teddy bear not doing it for you any more!"

"Why do you waste time with your prattle?" Doom asks. "Doom cannot be angered by mere words."

"Who wants to anger you? I'm just making small-talk!"

Doom fires off some more blasts at Spider-Man, not expecting to hit him but merely drive him back...and it works. He then, surprisingly, opens the sphere containing Widow and grabs her in a mystical field. "You will stand down Avengers!" he orders. "Or Doom will kill her."

The Avengers pause. Doom doesn't make idol threats.

"That's beneath you, Doom," Captain America argues.

"Doom does whatever he feels is necessary."

"What is this about, Doom?" Iron Man asks, his voice a little raspy from the pain of Doom's attacks. "What do you even want?"

"None of you have any idea what is going on. Black Widow is not what you think she is and Doom, out of the generosity of his heart, will now enlighten you," he informs them because he has gotten the information he wants from his scans. He brings Widow in front of him and reaches for her neck, grabbing the chain of her locket and snapping it as he pulls it free. He dangles it in front of Widow's eyes.

Natasha blinks...as if she doesn't want to look at it.

Doom notices. "Look at it, Ms Romanova," he demands.

The rest of the Avengers look on in confusion but stay their hand until they can be certain of rescuing Natasha without hurting her. Even Hawkeye is puzzled by the interest in the locket. Natasha's had that locket for as long as he can remember. She never talked much about it. He asked once and she snapped it was just an old family heirloom in a tone that indicated she never wanted to talk about it again and they never have.

Natasha blinks again and looks at the locket. It's a circular design, covered in swirling circular glyphs.

"_No!" _a voice, her voice, screeches in her mind. _"You must not look at me! Don't notice me! Look away! Look away!"_

Is the locket talking to her? Now Natasha can't help but look at it, be drawn to it, yet also part of her wants to run far, far away from it.

"Doom, what..." Iron Man begins.

"This is not a locket. It's technology. Alien technology. My scanners detected an unknown energy signature within. This is the truth of Ms Romanova who will now open it and show you all that Doom is always correct."

"_No! Don't listen! Don't open me! Forget me! That was the plan! Open me and it will all be ruined! Don't open me! You can't! You mustn't!" _the voice pleads.

Natasha's trembling hand reaches for the locket. The pleas doing nothing to stop her. She has to know. She doesn't know why except Doom's questioning has made her think, think about her life. He's right. Her memories are like someone pasted them. They lack detail and quality and depth. She's been manipulated too often before. If someone has messed her mind...she has to know.

She takes the locket and flicks the clasp open. With a burst of golden energy the locket opens. The energy slams into Natasha so hard it sends her flying from Doom's grasp and across the room.

The Avengers don't waste a moment and slam into Doom. All except Hawkeye who rushes over to where Natasha landed.

"Tash?" he queries, his voice showing clear concern for someone he is as close to as can be...or at least as close as Natasha ever allows anyone.

Widow groans and then mutters angrily...at herself apparently. "Stupid little ape. Never listen. That's your species' problem. You never listen."

"Tash?" Hawkeye repeats.

Her head snaps up and Hawkeye is physically taken aback by the look in her green eyes. Natasha has always had eyes that look much older than the face they belong to but now they look like eyes weighed down by the passage of centuries.

Widow snaps to her feet and storms off and Clink knows something is wrong instantly. In their job you are trained to notice everything and what Clint notices is that Natasha isn't moving like Natasha any more. The stride, the gate, the whole way she holds her body. It's wrong. He chases after her and reaches her as she starts to tear apart Doom's scanner and begins to rewire it by hand, her hands moving so fast they're almost a blur.

"What I wouldn't give for a sonic screwdriver," she mumbles under her breath. She pauses momentarily. "Oh I seem to talk to myself," she says, sounding surprised. "That's new," she remarks before getting back to work.

"Uh, Tash? What are you doing?"

"As if I could explain it to you," she answers in a very dismissive tone. "Lets just say that it was very effective against the Daleks and Doom is no Dalek."

Dalek? Hawkeye's heard that word before. Natasha would sometimes mutter it in her sleep when she was having a nightmare. He never did get around to asking her about it.

"It will have a limited range. I need Doom within 10 feet of the device," she informs Hawkeye.

"Right. I'll see what we can do," he says, worried about her, but if she has a plan then...well whatever is wrong with her can wait until they're back home.

As Hawkeye leaves her Natasha doesn't even spare him a glance as she works on though she does just keep the battle in the corner of her eye to judge where Doom is.

With their combined efforts the Avengers manage to manoeuvre Doom to within the range Natasha wanted. She connects together the last two circuits and the device fires up. The scanner beam latches onto Doom's armour which glows brightly bright before exploding.

When the dust settles an obviously badly hurt Doom lies on the ground amongst the ruins of his armour. Natasha moves to stand over him, her eyes fixated with a cold, dark rage beating deep within.

"How did you do that?" the peppiest of the Avengers, Wasp, asks.

"I altered the wavelength of the scanner so it would directly interface with the armour. I then sent a command which caused the power systems to backfire and overload." Her lips then quirk into an almost smile. "Basically I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow."

"That's impossible," Ant-Man comments. "Neutrons don't have a polarity."

"Really?" Natasha says sceptically. "And who told you that?"

"It's a basic scientific fact," Hank argues.

Natasha snorts. "Only by your limited science."

"You see," Doom croaks, trying to show he was right.

"Oh do shut up you wearisome...ape," Natasha dismisses him. "Or I'll end you right here and now."

"Uh, Widow, I know he's an egotistical jerk but we don't end people," Spider-Man points out.

Her eyes snap to Spider-Man. "I helped end my own people. What is he, what are any of you primitive little apes compared to them?" she almost snarls, full of anger and bitter self-recrimination.

"Okaayyy," Spider-Man drawls, scratching his head in confusion. "Anyone else got questions?"

"I do," Iron Man states. "Who are you and where is the Black Widow?" he demands to know.

Natasha turns to face him.

"Iron Man?" Captain America queries.

"My scanners," he starts to explain. "She's no longer reading human. I'm picking up a binary vascular system."

"Huh?" Wasp asks.

"She has two hearts," Black Panther explains, now completely on edge and ready to strike in case...whatever this woman is tries something.

"I told her not to open the locket and wake me up. This is not what I wanted," 'Natasha' states.

"Where's Natasha?!" Hawkeye demands to know, aiming an arrow at her.

"Gone," is the simple answer. "Assuming you could say she was ever really here in the first place."

"What does that mean lady?" Cap wants to know.

"Natasha was simply someone I became so I could forget."

"Forget what?"

"Everything," she says with a complete, all encompassing sadness, her hand going to her eyes to wipe away a stray tear.

"Bring her back!" Hawkeye demands.

"I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't. The device I used is long destroyed. Believe me if I could bring her back I would. I don't wish to be here."

"Why would you wish that?" Spider-Man asks, his tone more serious than normal. Sure he's felt crap at time but he's never wished he wasn't here.

"If you had seen what I have seen you wouldn't want to remember either."

"You fought in a war," Cap realises. It's the look in her eyes. That far off stare he's seen before of someone who has seen terrible things.

"I fought in THE war. The war to end all wars."

Captain America walks up to her and looks, really looks into her eyes.

"Uh, Cap?" Spider-Man queries. "Is that wise?" he wonders about the 1st Avenger getting that close to someone who they don't even know who or what she is any more.

"Are you a threat to us?" Cap asks her.

"No," she offers in return.

"Stand down," Cap orders.

"What?" Iron Man asks.

"She's not going to hurt us. I can see it in her eyes. Now we should go retrieve Hulk and get out of here," he decides. "We can sort this out at home."

"Best idea I've heard all day," Wasp comments.

"You're sure?" Iron Man wants to know.

"Yes," Cap says, still looking into her eyes...and what eyes they were. They were so old, so tried, so...defeated. The eyes of someone who had given up. Who didn't really have any reason to keep going. They're the eyes of a soldier who had fought long and hard...and lost. That's why she's not a threat. She just doesn't have the care enough to be one.

Cap's word is good enough for Iron Man. "Alright people. Lets move out!" he orders. As for Doom...well he'll probably survive. He usually does. Spider-Man's right in that they don't end people but they don't have to help him either.

Clint is the most distressed of all by this situation as they walk back to the jet considering how close he and Natasha are...were? He walks beside _her _keeping his eyes on her. "You're not Natasha," he states.

"No," she answers. "But I remember everything she did. I know everything she knows...knew," she corrects herself. "If it means anything to you at all I'm sorry. This is was not how I wanted her to end. I wanted her to live out a nice, long, normal life. The one thing my kind can never have."

"Who are you? What are you?" Clint wants to know. Iron Man said not human and it's not unlike they haven't met aliens before

"Those are both long stories," 'Natasha' relays, not really wanting to get into it.

"What about your name?" Wasp jumps in with. She was really curious after Iron Man said Natasha wasn't reading as human any more. "I mean you do have one right?"

'Natasha' sighs and rubs her head. "Yes. I have a name."

"And?" Wasp pushes for.

"My name is Romanadvoratrelundar but you can call me Romana..." she then can't quite help herself and tags on, "or Fred."

The End.

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><p><em>Author's Note: Romana**Roman**ov**a. **Come on. You can't tell me no-one spotted Romana's name can be picked up inside Black Widow's. Well anyway there's my explanation for where Romana went after the Time War. My idea being she made herself human to try and simply forget the horrors of the war which is why she's so cold and harsh but also sad and defeated. Who wouldn't be when you're all but the last of your kind. This was partially inspired by the Avengers EMH episode 'The Private War of Dr Doom'. Thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews._


	13. Glory-ous New Universe

**Glory-ous New Universe**

Summary: Two strangers will change the SG-1 Universe forever.

Author's Note: I own nothing.

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><p>By Goa'uld standards Tilgath was a minor deity...though like all Goa'uld in his mind he was an all powerful God and his ego would never allow him to seek anything but supreme power.<p>

It was an average day...as one might call it when he hears word of two strangely dressed trespassers arriving through the chappa'ai(Stargate). Bored, with nothing better to do, he decides to have them brought before him. Perhaps they can provide him with some mild amusement and diversion.

Or he can watch them being tortured. That would be amusing too.

Tilgath sits upon his throne, his fingers tapping on the golden armrest in impatience when his Jaffa bring in the two. A man and a woman.

Human...or at least look it. Yet they radiate a sort of power and arrogance that Tilgath associates with his own kind.

The man is tall with dark hair and blue eyes, well built, dressed in some sort of strange...armour? It tightly adherers to the man's body but resembles a sort of armour. It's dark blue with red boots and a red cape attached. On the chest was a symbol, a shield with a red sharply angled mark amidst a sea of black. Two horizontal lines at the top and bottom joined by a diagonal line going from top left down to bottom right.

The woman was different. Shorter than the male by close to a foot actually with long curly blond hair yet she for a female she looked toned and an aura of absolute power radiated from her. She was wearing her own form of very stylish looking armour. Not blue like the male. Blood red, sleeveless, fastened up the front with leather straps and finishing off with a skirt fanning down to knee height, gauntlets around her wrists, boots on her feet. If Tilgath ever takes a female host he must remember that look.

Tilgath speaks in that echoing bass all Goa'uld do. "So who are you that dares trespass on my realm. Speak!" he commands.

The woman arches an eyebrow. "Did he just command me?" she asks, truly revolted at the idea that someone would give her a command. She then chortles. "Oh wow, you have no idea how dead you are now," she says in utter amusement.

Tilgath's face darkens. "You do not speak to one's God in that fashion!" he reprimands.

The woman snorts. "God? You? That's rich!" she dismisses with the ease once might dismiss an ant.

The man's eyes flash electric blue and he seems to examine Tilgath. "Hmm lets see...human...some exotic mineral in your blood...aannddd a parasitic snake wrapped around the spinal chord with tendrils extending into the brain allowing you to override the person within. I'm guessing the snake is you. Hey, honey, when you call him a snake before you crush him he really is one for once," he informs the woman jovially.

The woman smiles. "That's so neat!" she proclaims.

The Jaffa around truly wonder how insane these people are to mock their Great God.

Tilgath restrains himself from having them killed this instant...barely. "I commanded you to speak! Who are you?"

The man looks to the woman. She says, "You tell him. If I have to lower myself to speaking to it I'll never feel clean again."

The man smiles fondly at her and gently cups her cheek for a moment which seems to calm her instantly. He then turns his attention to Tilgath. "Hi there...didn't catch the name?"

Tilgath's first prime, the man with the Gold mark on his forehead answers. "He is the Great God Tilgath!" he proclaims him to be.

"No he's not," the woman says in a low voice. "I killed Tilgath ages ago. Pathetic worm," she insults him.

"Tilgath," the man addresses him far too informally. "Who are we? Travellers. Lost travellers actually. You see there we were trying to get my Beloved here back home to reclaim her kingdom from her usurper brothers. Knowing they could not defeat us in a fair battle they used all their combined powers to redirect the portal we were blasting into their realm into the void between dimensions in the hope to trap us and our children there forever. That's when we spotted the matter/energy tunnel nearby and using her vast power my Beloved ripped a hole into it and we ended up exiting on this world through that circular device. Sadly only she and I made it, leaving our children behind so as you can imagine we're not in the best of moods. The only reason everyone on this planet is not dead already is because we wanted to find out what sort of universe we ended up in. Apparently one where parasites pretend they're Gods. That's rather disappointing really."

"It's very disappointing," the woman remarks.

"Though there are possibilities," he makes comment to her.

She turns her head to look at him and figures out what he means. Her lips curl up. "Oh yes. I see what you mean. So that mean I can kill him now?" she asks, nodding her head in the direction of Tilgath.

"Not immediately. I would like to ask him a few questions."

"On 3?" she queries.

The man smiles and nods. "1..." he starts the count.

Tilgath rises to his feet, furious at the disrespect he is getting. He raises his right hand and the gem in the middle of the gold device he wears glows ominously. "You will suffer for this!" he decrees.

"2..." the woman continues the count, not caring nor paying any attention to Tilgath.

"3..." the man finishes and the two move like blurs. One moment they're standing, surrounded by Jaffa. The next the woman has Tilgath round the throat, lifting him off the ground with ease while the man has gripped the wrist around which is the gold hand device all Goa'uld wear, holding it while he examines it.

"Jaffa...!" Tilgath calls out before the woman tightens her grip, choking him off.

The man glances as the Jaffa aim their staff weapons, the ends opening up and making a sound as they charge. His eyes then glow red and in a flash of intense heat he vaporises them in an instant.

Tilgath's eyes open wide and fear creeps in. What are these beings?

The man returns to the hand device. "Oh I get it!" he says as it suddenly snaps in his mind.

"Get what sweetie?" the woman asks, her voice so gentle for him and only for him.

"You know that village we came through? Dark Ages, feudal?"

The woman nods.

"It's how he maintains the illusion. This little trinket is technology. Quite advanced too. To ignorant people at a Dark Age level it would seem like magic and he would seem..."

"To be a God," the woman gets it. "That's...sad," she qualifies it.

"I am a God!" Tilgath chokes out, his eyes flashing.

The woman rolls her eyes. "Listen you little snake. You have a moment to agree to worship and serve me and answer our questions about your little universe or die. Since I just lost my children today I strongly advise you not to push my patience of which I have none."

Tilgath hopelessly grasps at the impossibly powerful hand round his throat. He gasps for air "Release me! Release me or I will des..."

He never gets to finish as with a twitch of her fingers the woman snaps his neck and snaps the symbiote within in half. She drops him to the ground where Tilgath's eyes flash once more before he dies.

"His moment was up," the woman says, her voice flat and commanding.

"I got that," the man says as he moves over to her and takes her in his arms. If he was anyone else she would kill him for this but he is her Beloved. He is the only one who knows her, who understands her, who she will allow to see her pain.

Then the sound of heavy boots running can be heard and another platoon of Jaffa enter the throne room to find their God lying on the ground dead.

The man and woman pull apart and stand there, regally and powerfully.

"You have two choices," the man states. "Serve us or join your fraud of a God in death. Which is it?"

The Jaffa look at each other. For thousands of years the Gods have fought each other. Occasionally one manages to kill another and when that happens the most common outcome is that the Jaffa of the fallen choose to serve the conqueror.

However there always the true believer who will seek vengeance. One of the Jaffa aims his weapon but he suffers the same fate as the ones before as the two beams erupt from the man's eyes and he punches a hole clean through the fool.

"Aw I wanted to kill him," the woman complains with a pout.

"I'm not stopping you," the man says in reply.

The woman snaps her fingers and the fallen Jaffa rises up into the air...and despite his wound new life comes to him.

The other Jaffa look on in shock and amazement.

The woman strides forward to the impossibly alive Jaffa. "Tell me worm, why did you dare try to harm me? Unlike that parasite I am a God!" she declares with a voice of such power the whole room shivers.

The poor undead man is barely able to comprehend his state, let alone answer her. "I...I..."

The woman gets bored, snaps her fingers and literally unmakes the man. His body unravels, his atoms fall apart and he turns to a dust that slowly forms a pile on the floor. A slow, horrendous death. Once it is over the woman turns to the rest. "Anyone else?" the woman asks if some other fool will challenge her. "No? No-one want to challenge us? Make a note that what I just did is nothing to what I can do if you anger me. I can make you beg for a death that will never come. You will suffer forever," she warns darkly before her voice and whole demeanour suddenly turns cheerful "Or you can serve us and my rewards can be most generous. You can know what it means to serve a true God and be elevated by being in my mere presence. What do you say sports?"

The others have just witnessed something that they have never seen even their old Master or any of the Goa'uld do. That being the case the platoon drop to one knee and bow their heads.

The woman's lips curl up in satisfaction. "Now, this I like," she comments to the man as she strides back to his side.

"You would," he comments with a fond shake of his head. He turns to the bowing creatures. "Which of you is most senior?" he asks for the one in charge.

"That would be me," the commander of the platoon answers.

"Ok, until I decide otherwise I make you our...general or whatever the term you use is," the man decrees seeing that these...Jaffa he recalls Tilgath calling them, are obviously the warrior class.

"First Prime, my Lord," he explains what the term is.

"First Prime it is then," the man agrees.

"Then my first duty is to inform you that Lord Tilgath's First Prime's last task is to avenge his master."

"Of course it is," the woman complains as she throws her arms up in the air. She goes to sit on the throne and makes a face. "Ok, now this is tacky. I've designing a new one," she says in reference to the throne because it's just hideous.

The man ponders. "He wasn't the one with the gold mark was he?" he asks the Jaffa.

"Yes, my Lord."

"That's ok then. He's dead. See that scorch mark over there," he points at it. "That was him."

The new First Prime's eyes widen in momentary shock before he bows once more.

The man goes to stand beside the woman. He takes her hand and kisses it gently. "Pass the word around there is a new management in town," he instructs.

"If my Lord and my Queen will forgive me for asking what is the name I am to spread."

"Oh right. We never did say," the woman realises. "That parasite wasn't worthy to know it." She stands and clears her throat as she makes her announcement. "I am the Great, beautiful and bodacious Glorificus and this is my Consort Kal-El whose commands you will take as if spoken by me. He is my equal, my King, my everything. We are your Gods and will be worshipped as such. We'll get to the details on how later but make it clear the following. Worship and servitude will be rewarded with a better life. Refusal to recognise us as your true and only Gods will be met with death, followed by your souls being tortured forever in the worse place I can find in this universe. Think you can manage that?"

"It shall be done, my Goddess, my Lord," the First Prime assures them as he sends the other Jaffa away to do that.

Kal-El steps forward. "Rise," he commands of the First Prime who obeys. "Now I have some questions and I want you to answer them as honestly as possible. You can do that?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Excellent. Ok lets start with you telling me everything you can about that parasite," he points at the fallen Tilgath, "and then we'll expand to that circular device we came through and everything else you know about this universe."

The new First Prime doesn't understand why his new Gods would ask such questions. Then again it's not his place to question or refuse so he does as commanded.

Glory lets her beloved Kal deal with the boring stuff of finding out about this universe. He'll fill her in on the important stuff later. He's good at knowing what she wants to know and what she couldn't care less about. He...just seems to understand her so well. Knows how to keep her calm, make her happy. That's why he is her perfect Consort and mate and in return she helps show him how far he is beyond these mortals that raised him. When he unleashes his full self he is closer to a force of nature than a mortal being. She helps him be what he should be, opens his eyes and here's the thing, in the process of doing that it lifts all the burdens off his shoulders. She makes him happy because she elevates him to being his true self.

It's like she said to him once. He's almost as far beyond humans as she is. And when he lets himself go in such a way...ooh boy he makes her so wet.

Glory sits back on the throne. Yep, so tacky. So gone. This...has been a troubling day for her. The first set-back she has had in a long time, arguably since that day she first met her Beloved and once again it's her damn brothers that are the cause. She and Kal had conquered Earth as they planned. As is her right. Billions bowing down in worship of her...of both of them...as all those pathetic mortals should. Anyone who refused to died. It's all their own fault she and Kal had to kill them. She means all they had to do was forsake their own petty little faiths and religions and worship her? How is that asking for too much?

She's a God. She's the most glorious and all powerful God in all existence. Therefore as mere pathetic mortals they should recognise her magnificence and worship her. It's all perfectly logical. If they had done that she and Kal wouldn't have had to level their cities and kill them by the million. She means didn't they realise she had better things to do than spend time slaughtering them?

Anyway eventually they came round after she and Kal and their precious children forced all the nations to capitulate in an unconditional surrender. The nations they hadn't wiped out yet anyhow.

By this point they had conceived thousands of children as their army. Arguably you could say they had created an entire new species. Part Hell-God, part Kryptonian.

Once Earth was theirs the next step was obvious. Use the Key to force her way back home and slaughter her weak-born siblings as she long ago swore she would only the two pathetic cowards that they are managed to do what Kal told that parasite and here they are. Exiled into another universe.

Oh she is so mad right now. How dare her brothers do this to her! Her! It's bad enough they once upon a time exiled her into that meat prison called Ben. Now they don't even have the courage to face her in battle. And she got all dressed up for battle and everything. It took her ages to come up with this outfit and now it doesn't even get the honour of being stained with the blood of her brothers. It's insulting. They insult her by using tricks to deflect her from re-entering her realm. And remember it is hers. Not theirs. They stole it from her. This is all their fault and when she gets her hands on them it will be their own stupid fault that she'll ensure it takes them at least an aeon to die in unspeakable agony. She could have been merciful and made their deaths quick at least even if they would have still been indescribably painful.

But that ship has sailed as mortals would say. No more mercy from her for those two wastes of family. Frankly she feels like she needs to scrub her skin off at the mere thought she's related to them.

But it'll be alright. In the end Glory always knows that, while she may get the odd set-back, it will be alright for her. She has Kal and that's enough and together they'll rectify this injustice against them.

Either they'll figure out a way home or they will transform this new universe to suit them. And no matter what they'll find a way to rescue their precious children. Glory's not sentimental...but they're her children. Her and Kal's. The perfect combination of both of them. Like she loves him, she loves them.

Once upon a time she would have thought that idea of feeling love revolting but in truth it fills her with more power than ever.

That love, that power, if they are stuck in this universe...well that power will turn this particular corner of reality into something wondrous...for her and Kal. Something magnificent. Something...Glory-ous.

This she decrees in her own name and therefore it shall come to pass.

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><p><em>Author's Note: I pondered over this for awhile and wondered if it was too clichéd to throw Kal and Glory from my Glory-ous verse into the Stargate universe because it is such a perfect place for them where the nature of it would mean they would easily be worshipped as Gods. I considered using the episode Summit where at first none of the System Lords knows who is attacking them until it is revealed to be Anubis but it doesn't suit Glory to be so coy and secretive. When she destroys you she wants you to know what sort of magnificent deity is killing you. Though I suppose I don't rule out doing another chapter like that. I though hard about the outfits and since they were trying to get to Glory's original realm to wage war it needed to be armour of some sort. Kal's is basically the Superman outfit and I considered it all being black but I find black more representative of an unhappy, dark Superman. In fact he's amazingly happy in this little universe I've created despite being twisted round to the darkside so I went to keep black minimal to the shield whose appearance is off Kingdom Come. Glory's outfit is...well I just looked up some images in a search and liked that one the best. Thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews.<em>


	14. UFC: The Wrong Destination

**UFC: The Wrong Destination**

Summary: Carol Danvers' first day as an Agent of SWORD is rather interesting.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: UFC: The Unfinished Chronicles. I often start stories just to see how they might go and to see if I can finish them. Obviously some just end up abandoned but perhaps I can partially revive them by placing their opening chapters in my collection montage. If you like them I might even be motivated enough to come back and finish them.

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><p>On the doomed planet Krypton, a wise scientist placed his infant son in a spacecraft and launched him to Earth.<p>

Raised by a kind farmer and his wife, the boy grew up to be our greatest protector...Superman.

But when astronomers discovered the distant remains of his home world, Superman disappeared...

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><p>And then there came a day, unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes teamed up against a common threat. On that day the Avengers were born.<p>

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><p>Orbiting high above the Earth is a vast ship shaped like a sword called Damocles. It once belonged to Kang the Conqueror, ruler of Earth in the 40th century, until he travelled back in time, intent on saving his timeline which, he claimed, was being destroyed by the presence of one man who should not exist; Steven Rogers aka Captain America, super-soldier created during World War 2, frozen in the cold Arctic until found by the superhero team known as the Avengers and defrosted.<p>

Kang attempted to kill one of America's greatest hero and in doing so he believed this act would preserve his timeline...only to be absolutely certain of success he decided that he would also conquer the planet in order to advance it enough to survive being caught in an approaching conflict between two alien empires; the Kree and the Skrulls.

What Kang hadn't counted on was the intervention of the allies of Captain America; the Avengers.

Iron Man; Tony Stark, genius billionaire who invented a powerful suit of amour. Founder and leader of the Avengers.

Thor the Thunderer, son of Odin, a God from the realm of Asgard.

The Hulk, a huge, green, some would call monster, created after Dr Bruce Banner was caught in a Gamma ray explosion which mutated his DNA, and arguably the strongest being on the planet.

The Wasp; Janet Van Dyne, part time fashion designer, part time hero who could shrink herself down to insect size and would grow a pair of wings and could fire bio-electric stings from her hands.

Ant-Man; Henry Pym, inventor of Pym particles which allows him to either shrink down or grow to enormous proportions. He also invented a helmet which could allow him to speak to insects.

Hawkeye; Clint Barton, formerly an agent of the government agency known as SHIELD until he was framed by his partner as a traitor. After clearing his name has become a vital member of the team with his array of trick arrows and a deadly aim that never misses.

Together the Avengers managed to defeat Kang, despite his advanced technology, leaving his ship trapped in the 21st century where it was originally taken over by SHIELD. Recently a new breakaway division of SHIELD has been set up to concentrate solely on preparing to confront the extraterrestrial threat that Kang promised is coming.

And they are not solely taking Kang's word for that. They had already been an incident involving the Kree that came close to devastating the entire planet so they knew for a fact that the Kree were coming. It was only because a Kree spy, called Captain Mar-Vell, chose to assist them, because he had developed a soft spot for humanity and possibly one for one particular human, that they survived. Mar-Vell left promising to do all he could to help but warning that they should prepare for the storm that is coming.

Hence the new division which is called SWORD and Damocles has been turned into their base...or it would be if they could get the damn artificial intelligence that ran the ship to do what it was told.

SWORD's director Abigail Brand is right now arguing with it...again!

"Listen to me you pile of wires and circuits. I have had enough of this!" the green haired woman, dressed in a green uniform with the symbol of a sword on the right hand side of the chest, tells the AI.

"Access Denied," is all the AI says back.

Brand pulls her side arm out and points it at the computer screen. "Here's the deal. You grant me access and I won't shoot you!"

"Director Brand?"

"Not now!" she snaps. "I'm in the middle of a negotiation."

"You requested me to be here."

Brand frowns behind her green shades and turns her head to actually see who is bothering her. It is a tall athletic woman with long blond hair tied back into a ponytail dressed in the sane uniform as Brand is wearing.

"Major Danvers. Right," Brand says as she remembers. She holsters her side arm and an icy cool demeanour seems to take over.

Major Carol Danvers, formerly a US air-force pilot and member of SHIELD. She use to be just a normal human being until her partner at a SHIELD facility she was stationed at turned out be to a Kree spy. Carol had just started to like him too. There was an accident involving what was called a Kree Sentry robot. There was an explosion and when Lawson...or Mar-Vell or whatever the hell his name is tried to protect her Carol's body somehow got enthused with Kree bio-energy. It changed her and she has spent the last few months coping with those changes. Tests showed she was now nearly as strong and tough as the Hulk or Thor. She could fly and absorb energy and fire energy blasts from her hands. These unique skills made her the perfect operative in Director Brand's eyes and she had pulled strings to get Carol assigned to SWORD.

Carol can't help but take a glancing look out the large bridge windows into space and wonder where Mar-Vell is and how he is doing. She was told how he had vowed to go to the Kree's leadership and try and put off the invasion. Carol liked to think he truly was on their side and was fighting for them...and ok the soft spot she still retains in her heart for him, despite him being a spy and an alien and blue, may be clouding her judgement a little she is willing to admit but it's not unhealthy to think on the positive as long as she prepares for the worse.

Brand turns to face Major Danvers. "So how are you finding our little base?" she asks.

"It's...amazing!" Carol says with more enthusiasm than she knows she should show. It is just...here is her guilty confession...she's a sci-fi nerd on the inside. If you tell anyone she will snap your neck like a chicken. Anyway she is geeking out in a major way being on a real life spaceship from the future of all things.

"That's not my word for it," Brand mutters as she taps on a few controls.

"Access denied," the AI repeats it's previous denial of any attempt to access it's systems.

"You are seriously making it difficult to like you!" Brand snaps at the AI...again. Her lips curl up into a snarl. She then takes a moment to reassert the cold mask before addressing the Major. "As you can see we're still having...teething troubles. Kang may have been defeated but we can't hack through his security measures meaning we have next to no control over the ship."

"I take it Kang has not been cooperative about telling us his security codes," Carol assumes.

"Kang does not see fit to talk to us at all. Apparently we 'primitives' are beneath him even when we 'primitives' defeated him. If the future is run by that guy I'm almost tempted to let these Kree and Skrulls destroy us."

Carol is pretty certain that's a joke but it's hard to tell. She had heard stories of Brand. Apparently ripping people to shreds with words was her hobby. Carol finds she likes her already.

Just then what sounds like an alarm activates. Damocles' AI speaks. "Warning. Unknown vessel detected approaching."

SWORD agents swiftly move about the varying control stations.

"Someone give me a report!" Brand demands.

"Damocles is scanning a vessel just passing the Moon," one of them reports from the readout on a holographic screen.

Brand and Danvers move over to that agent. "What is Damocles saying?" Carol asks.

"Vessel type; unknown. Power and propulsion; unknown. One life-sign detected. Species; unknown," the agent reports.

"That sure was helpful," Brand says so flatly it's hard to tell whether that was sarcasm or not.

"Wait," Carol says. "This ship is from the future. How can it not know something?" she asks a very pertinent question.

"I knew there was a reason I hired you," Brand says for the fact someone picked up on that.

"It's going to pass us by...very closely," another agent says.

They all look up at the large transparent 'windows' that cover the bridge as the vessel streaks by. It look like a mass of interlocking crystals and then it is gone and plunging into Earth's atmosphere.

"We have an incursion," Brand states the fairly obvious fact. "Tell me Major how is the training going with your powers?" she asks Danvers.

Carol blinks. "It's proceeding," she gives the bland answer. Truthful answer although she would like a little more time to get a complete grip on her powers before dealing with anything big.

"Up to dealing with an unknown alien incursion?"

"Yes," Carol replies even if she isn't 100% certain of that. The new costume she wanted isn't even ready yet.

"Where's that ship heading?" Brand demands to know.

"It coming down over...Kansas," one of her agents reports.

"Kansas. Why is it always Kansas?" Brand mutters in complaint as she pinches her nose in annoyance.

Everyone looks at her.

"What? Trust me. It's always Kansas. It's like the alien invasion hotspot of the planet."

"You dealt with many alien invasions Director Brand?" Carol asks because that sure was news to her.

"That's way above your pay grade Major," Brand warns her off.

"Of course Ma'am," Carol replies like the good soldier.

Brand eyes the Major for a moment before ordering, "Get a squad down to the shuttle and I want it ready to launch 60 seconds ago." She turns to the woman monitoring the unknown ship. "I want the coordinates of where it is going down to the millimetre."

"Yes Ma'am," the female agent responds.

Brand gives a cursory nod before turning back to Major Danvers. "Come Major. Since this is your first rodeo you can be my 2nd and I'll show you the ropes."

"Yes Ma'am," Carol responds.

Brand then marches off the bridge towards the hangar with Major Danvers marching with her.

"How will we treat this Ma'am?" Carol wonders as in what approach do they take.

"With caution. It is possible the ship merely has a fault and the..._person_ on-board is simply looking for a suitable place to set down and make repairs. In that case 1st contact protocol applies. We offer assistance and attempt an exchange of knowledge. We don't shoot first and ask questions later. We already have two alien empires coming our way, we don't need to potentially antagonise a 3rd unless we have no other choice. Being a member of SWORD means you use your brains. Always assess the situation first."

"Yes Ma'am...and if it turns out this individual is hostile?"

"Why do you think I invited you along. If it's hostile you will take it down with extreme prejudice to demonstrate Earth will not tolerate hostile incursions into our space. That clear?"

"Perfectly Ma'am."

"Good. I hate repeating myself."

The two women reach the hangar and step into the shuttle parked there. A SWORD strike team is already on-board. Carol slips into the pilot's chair with Brand next to her. All Carol ever wanted since she was a little girl was to be a pilot. Sitting here, behind the controls of any type of aircraft, is where she feels happiest. She flips the appropriate switch and starts the engines as the ship blasts out of the hangar.

They are soon hitting the top of the atmosphere as the turbulence and heat build up. "Anyone with a weak stomach might want to grab a sick bag," Carol warns as the turbulence gets worse and the shuttle begins to glow red hot as it plunges deeper and deeper into the ever thickening atmosphere.

The initial phase of re-entry always plays havoc with radio signals so they are out of touch for a few minutes. When communications are restored Brand gets an update on their mysterious ship. "It's down, crash landed into a corn field," she reports.

"Maybe it was like you said. His ship developed a fault," Carol proposes because that seems to be more likely if he, she or whatever crashed.

Brand purses her lips. "Maybe. We'll still be cautious. Land us as close as you can Major," she instructs.

"Yes Ma'am."

As they draw closer to the ground they can see the trench the ship has ploughed out as it landed and it is now half buried. Small fires burn all around and the ship is still glowing a dull red from the heat of re-entry which stands out strongly in the night-time sky. Carol brings them down for a soft vertical landing. With everything they have experienced recently they had made big strides forward in shuttle technology in a very short time.

Brand turns to the armed SWORD agents behind her. "Alright. I want this done by the numbers. No screw ups or I swear you'll wish you had never met me." She turns to Danvers. "Major hit the ramp."

Carol flicks the switch, the ramp descends and the squad move out, covering each other and forming a perimeter around the ramp.

"All clear!" one reports back.

Brand and Danvers march down the ramp. They were only a short distance away from the unknown alien vessel. There is no sign of the pilot.

"I want a perimeter round the ship. Nothing gets in or out. Move it!" Brand orders.

The SWORD agents spread out in a circle around the ship, spaced close enough together to cover each other.

"So what do you think Major?" Brand asks.

Carol's eyes are probably wide, full of awe and wonder as unprofessional as that is. "I've never seen anything like it," she has to say.

"Neither have I," Brand says in a low tone of aggravation.

Carol would have a hard time beginning to tell how the design of the ship makes any sense. It's all odd angles and an interlocking crystal like structure. She can't see an engine of any kind. She has no idea what powers it or makes it fly. It is...well...alien. Still she can make a guess at one thing. "If whatever inside is roughly our size this would be a one man craft," she judges from the size of roughly oval centre of the craft. It's elongated now she looks at it more and she thinks she can judge what is the front and what is the rear.

"Very good," Brand praises her. "But we can't assume that whatever is inside is even humanoid just yet."

Brand and Danvers move closer and the heat begins to build.

"Can you take the heat and have a closer look?" Brand inquires.

"I should be able to," Carol reports from the testing done on her new physiology.

"Be my guest."

Carol pushes herself off the ground slightly and hovers slowly, taking in the craft from above on a once over, trying to see if there is some kind of door but doesn't see anything. Perhaps it is buried. She lands right next to the craft and walks around, taking a closer look. Her hand skims over the surface of one of the protruding out crystal structures. It is so hot it even makes her wince and shake her hand.

"How can a ship have no way in or out?" she mumbles to herself, her hands going to her hips, as she frowns at seeing no door. Unless it's unmanned...no wait. Damocles said it detected a life-sign on-board so there has to be someone.

Carol contemplates she may just have to lift the thing out of the ground to see if indeed the door or hatch is buried. She moves to what she thinks is the front of the craft. She wants to pick it up by the bulk so as not to risk breaking it. She tests the temperature first by gently touching her hand to the surface. She barely touches it when there is a glow under where her hand touches and suddenly a seam appears and the...crystals start to retreat, flowing over each other almost like liquid, until an opening reveals itself.

Carols' inner sci-fi nerd can't help but think how awesome this is. "I've found an opening. I'm going inside to have a look!" she shouts out to Brand.

"Extreme caution Major!" Brand yells back.

"Understood!"

Carol cautiously takes a step inside into the space. It's dark. She raises a hand and forms a golden glow around it providing some light. As she looks she can see, like the outside, the interior is formed from what appears to be crystal. The space in front of her stretches on a little distance. Let Carol be logical here. If this is the front, then this is where the pilot steers from...although she can't see any instrumentation of any sort.

If this is the front then, and assuming a trip across space takes a considerable amount of time, then beyond would have to be some sort of living quarters...except she can't see anything that resembles that.

Carol strides forward, the space big enough she can easily walk upright in it and at the far end is crystals descending from the ceiling and forming a chamber of some sort?

Carol walks up to it and her hand brushes over the surface. Again they glow under her touch and pull back to reveal...a figure dressed in a skin-tight black outfit lying in a bowl on some kind of silver fabric. A sleeping chamber? A stasis chamber? Ok she is totally guessing here but it occupies her mind. Carol leans forward, brings her hand forward, intensifies the glow, illuminating the figure and is completely shocked by the fact...well it looks like a man. Kind of a handsome man actually. If Carol didn't know that Damocles had identified the occupant of this craft as an unknown species she would swear this guy was human.

As Carol leans closer in she can see how pale he looks. If he were human she would say he looked deathly sick...which would explain the crashing but that makes all sort of other issues arise up. If he is sick is it a disease? It is communicable to humans? They're going to have to quarantine him until they can be certain...and yes it has occurred to her that she's going to have to be quarantined as well.

That's going to look great on her resume. First day on the job; caught weird alien virus. She can just imagine what her friend Janet Van Dyne would say. The teasing. Never hear the end of it.

Carol looks him over closely and on his chest there is a raised symbol. It looks strangely like the letter S inside a diamond. She also notices that this guy is built and she would say he was tall, at least 6 foot, more probably.

Carol touches her hand to the symbol and as she does so she can feel the strong, slow beat of a heart within his chest which expands and falls shallowly as he takes a gentle breath. Well he's alive.

Suddenly her wrist is grabbed and she is yanked forward until her face is mere inches from his face. The bluest eyes Carol has ever seen stare into her. His lips move, his voice weak, "Who are...?"

And that is all he says before his strength leaves him, his head lolls back and he passes out. Carol takes a few steps back and regathers herself. He had caught her off guard and...wait did he just speak English?

He did. He absolutely did. How can he speak her language?

Carol speaks the question he never finished. "Who are you?" she asks in a confused whisper.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: If you can't guess this was going to be a crossover between Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes(a cartoon cancelled before its time) and Superman Returns which is actually one of the first story idea I noted down on my profile page. The idea being this is Carol's first actual mission as a SWORD agent, before she made her debut on the show, finding a certain dimensionally misplaced Last Son of Krypton. Anyway this is the first of a few I think I'll put up. Thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews for this story.<em>


	15. UFC: The Wrong Path

**UFC: The Wrong Path**

Summary: History has been altered and Clark Kent has fallen down the wrong path. Now a criminal is he destined to forever be the perennial bad guy or can he yet find his way back to his true calling?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: The 2nd of my Unfinished Chronicles. A story based off the idea of what if Clark was a criminal? What if he was a member of, say, the Injustice League? How does he live in a world where the Justice League's duty is to take him down? It was suppose to be set in a rough equivalent of the JLU-verse.

* * *

><p><strong>The past...<strong>

It was such a simple, rustic, unimposing, unimportant looking structure yet inside was one of the most important beings who has ever lived...or will be one day.

That is why he had to die.

He had to die before he became the legend. Before his legacy infected the entire space-time continuum.

The calculations had been precisely worked out. A massive amount of time and processing power had been dedicated to this endeavour so that there was no error.

That is why hovering outside the Kent farmhouse in Smallville Kansas upon a machine that resembles a floating chair essentially is a robotic humanoid entity a green head and upon the forehead 3 circles joined in a triangle configuration.

A bolt of lightning shoots at the figure and impacts off an energy shield.

"Brainiac!"

Brainiac turns its head and focusses its visual sensors that resemble humanoid eyes upon its attacker as he hovers above it, a young man with ginger hair dressed in a mostly blue costume with patches of yellow down each side in the form of lightning bolts. "Lightning Lad," it acknowledges. "Your attempts to stop me are as futile as they are predictable."

Lightning Lad is joined in the air by two others. Another young man with dark hair dressed in a purple and black costume with 4 silver circles across the check in an arc. Next to him is a young woman with blond hair in a white and pink costume with the image of a ringed planet on the chest.

Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl. Along with Lightning Lad 3 members of the Legion of Superheroes from the 31st century.

"You know we can't let you do this Brainiac," Cosmic Boy says.

"I know it is your duty to attempt to stop me but you shall fail. I have calculated every possibility. My victory is certain and so is the erasure of Superman from the space-time continuum," Brainiac informs them in his cold mechanical voice.

"You can't know the consequences of such an action. You could erase yourself in the process," Saturn Girl points out a flaw.

"I am 99% certain my existence shall continue in the new timeline. Yours however shall not. The Legion only exists because of Superman's legacy. When I kill Kal-El here and now as a child he shall never become Superman. There will be no legacy and the Legion will never come into existence."

"You really think we're going to let you kill Kal? Your programming must be defective!" Lightning Lad shouts angrily.

"As I said I have already calculated and made adjustments for your interference. You cannot stop me."

Lightning Lad raises his right hand and lightning crackles between his fingers. "You'll forgive us for trying!" he says with a grunt of effort as he sends another lightning attack at Brainiac with as much power behind it as he can muster.

The shield buckles slightly but holds. "I have no need to forgive even if I was capable of such a sentiment. You are organic creatures and as such flawed. You will attempt to stop me even when it is futile."

Brainiac raises its arm and an energy blasts emerges from its hand aimed at the Legion members who twist in the air and dodge.

Cosmic Boy uses his Magnetic powers to deflect one of Brainiac's attacks back at him. It penetrates the shield and hits the robot in the chest damaging it. In response Brainiac raises its other arm and doubles the rate of its fire.

This had all started at an archaeological dig in Metropolis circa 3012. What no-one had anticipated was that amongst the ruins was one tiny little sliver of the original Brainiac, ancestor of their fellow Legion member Brainiac 5.

Brainy was the black sheep of the family as in he was the good one while the others were all rotten to the core.

Anyway from that tiny sliver Brainiac managed to infiltrate computer systems, rebuild itself a new body and then, upon seeing the world it had woken up in, decided to travel back in time to Smallville when Kal was a young boy and kill him then before he became Superman...or that is what Brainy managed to get out of his ancestor before Brainiac badly injured him.

Cosmic Boy wasn't sure if Brainy would live or not but they didn't have time to stand around and worry about their friend no matter how much they wanted to. They had to follow Brainiac back before the whole timeline was threatened. In the end only 3 of them managed to jump into the portal Brainiac created before it closed so it was down to them and no matter the odds they had to win. The past, present and futures of billions rested upon it.

"Saturn Girl. Get to the house. Protect Kal. We'll keep Brainiac busy," Cosmic Boy orders as he uses his magnetic powers on Brainiac's chair which was easier than trying to use them on the robot itself as it seemed able to block his magnetic effect.

The chair jerks through the air as Saturn Girl flies straight toward the house.

Brainiac fires off a shot and manages to hit her in the back. She cries out in pain and she tumbles down into the dust.

"Im!" Lightning Lad cries out in worry as he sees her fall. Eyes full of anger focus in on Brainiac. "That's it. To use the slang of this century; you're going down!"

He charges his fist up with lightning and brings it slamming down atop of Brainiac's shield. He grits his teeth in pain and keeps pushing his fist forward pushing through the energy shield.

There is sudden flash and an explosion. Cosmic Boy covers his eyes but it is too late to stop seeing the spots. By the time they clear he spots Lightning Lad on the ground clearly missing his right arm. Brainiac too is down on the ground, damaged.

Brainiac takes a moment to reroute circuits to bypass damaged system. It sits up and spots Lightning Lad. Injured but alive. Brainiac decides it is most logical to eliminate the threat once and for all. It raises an arm only to have it ripped away by a magnetic field.

Brainiac's magnetic shielding is offline rendering it vulnerable to Cosmic Boy's power. The other arm is ripped away followed swiftly by the legs before Cosmic Boy comes into land.

"It's over Brainiac," Cosmic Boy declares.

"You are correct. It is," Brainiac states.

Cosmic Boy frowns. There is something wrong about the way Brainiac is saying that. It sounds...triumphant?

Suddenly the farmhouse explodes in a ball of strangely green tinged fire knocking Cosmic Boy off his feet, the heat of the blast burning his exposed skin.

Several minutes past. Cosmic Boy tries to ignore the immense pain he now feels and crawls over to what remains of Brainiac. He uses his power to wrench the torso and head into the air. "What did you do?" he demands to know.

Brainiac remains emotionless and calm. "As I said. I calculated your interference in my plans and adjusted them accordingly. While we were battling a small drone was burrowing its way underneath the property. The drone contained a primitive explosive that you would not think to scan for. The explosive yield was significantly enhanced by the addition of kryptonite."

Cosmic Boy's eyes widen in horror as the realisation sinks in. "No," he whispers in disbelief.

"Yes," Brainiac confirms. "And what you are imagining is correct. At Kal-El's current age of 10 years old he is not physically able to survive any exposure to even minimal amounts of kryptonite. His death is certain."

Cosmic Boy's damaged face twists in anger and he uses his powers to begin to crush Brainiac into a ball...only for them to suddenly vanish as his hand starts to fade away.

"It has begun," Brainiac states as it drops to the ground. "The time stream is realigning itself to cope with the alteration. This temporal version of you and your colleagues is being erased."

Cosmic Boy looks over at Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl who are fading away like he is. He turns back to Brainiac who too is fading from existence. He looks to the burning house with flames still tinged with green. "Kal. I'm sorry," his apologies echo into the night sky as he fades completely out of existence.

* * *

><p><strong>The present...<strong>

Metropolis. The City of Tomorrow. It's Second National Bank. Brand new building. Shiny. Modern. Queues of people just trying to go about their daily business because despite all the modern technology and digital banking sometimes you just need to go into a bank and physically talk to someone.

"I swear I'm going to have someone's head for this," a brunette woman in a red shirt, black skirt and cream jacket mutters as she stands in line.

"Why am I here again?" a young man with red hair asks.

"You're here to stop me killing someone Olsen. Keep up."

Jimmy Olsen looks at his companion with a confused frown. "Lois. I'm sure it's just a technical error," he tries to assuage her anger.

"That's no excuse to dump this overdraft charge on me. Have you seen the size of it? It's highway robbery!" Lois Lane proclaims.

Jimmy sighs. He still doesn't know why he is here. He gazes around the space he is in and spots a tall man with curly black hair and blue eyes join the queue a few places behind him and Lois near the door beside the security guard.

There's something off about the guy. The way he keeps his head down. Now Jimmy knows this. He's a photographer for a major newspaper after all. That is what people do who plan to rob banks.

Jimmy finds his eyes roaming around and spots other men have managed to get to stand near the other security guards. They all check their watches simultaneously.

Jimmy only gets to the 'Lo' bit of Lois' name when they act. They disable the guards and pull on balaclavas over their heads.

"Everybody freeze!" one man holding a pair of guns, one in each hand, as he points them out, shouts.

The other 4 men...no 3 men pull out guns. The 4th one. The one at the back of the queue doesn't.

The man who spoke, Jimmy is going to assume he's the leader, speaks again. "Now lets not do anything foolish. None of you want to be heroes. You know how this works. We get our money. No-one gets hurt."

"You have got to be freakin kidding!" Lois exclaims, unable to believe this. How can her day get any worse.

"Lois," Jimmy hisses. He knows her. He knows her big mouth will get them into trouble.

Lois doesn't listen. "Hey! Jackass! Don't you have something better to do than rob banks?! That's so 20th century. Get with the times!"

The leader's eyes fall upon her. "Oh look. A big mouth! Kal! Shut her up please!"

The big, tall guy Jimmy notices strides forward and grabs Lois by the arm tightly.

"Hey! Watch it ya big lug!" Lois complains. She tries to wrench her arm free but can't break his steel like grip. Lois goes for the killer blow and tries to kick him between the legs.

"Ow!" Lois yells in pain as she hops around comically.

Kal forces her to the ground. "Sit down. Shut up. You'll live longer," he tells her in a stern authoritarian tone.

Lois glares at him. "Look _Kal,_" she says in unfriendly tones. "And I'm assuming that's not your real name unless you're really dumb. You broke my foot!"

"Cry me a river sweetheart," he says unsympathetically.

Lois draws her hand back ans slaps him.

"OW!" she shouts as she cradles her hand. "What the hell are you made of?"

"Something you can't handle," he says in smug tones. "Now are you going to behave or do I knock you out. Problem with that is if you're unconscious you'll never know what is happening to you and as a reporter I thought you would like to bear witness for your next story...Ms Lane."

Lois' eye widen in surprise. "You know me?"

"I watch tv," he explains how he knows her. She's pretty famous and he has a good eye and memory. "Now be good...or else," he warns.

The leader whistles. "Kal! The safe!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kal mutters as he stands up and walks towards the tellers. He keeps walking, smashing right through the desks as if they aren't there to the back of the bank where a huge circular safe door is. He eyes it up, grabs hold and pulls.

The sound of metal ripping apart can be heard throughout the bank as Kal lifts the door away and tosses it aside like a toy. He steps inside accompanied by two other members of the gang. They start grabbing cash. Kal's eyes are focused on the safety deposit boxes. His eyes seem to flash electric blue as they scan the room.

Finally he stops on one, walks forward and puts his fist through the metal and grabs what is inside. He pulls his hand out and looks at it. Some kind of mauve coloured crystal. The bank robbery was cover. They had been hired to steal this. Kal smashes open several other boxes randomly and takes the contents so no-one figures they were after this particular object.

"Kal! Cops!"

Kal strides out of the safe as the sound of sirens fills the air. "Well damn. They've got a better response time than the cops in Detroit. You've got to give them that," he quips.

The leader comes up to Kal. "Did you get the item?" he asks.

Kal hands over the odd crystal.

"Good. Well done," he congratulates Kal. "Now take care of them," the leader orders, pointing outside, meaning the cops.

"Keep your pants on Fred," Kal tells him off with a roll of his eyes using his false name. "Honestly why I hang around you guys I'll never know. You'd be lost without me," he expresses an honest opinion as he strides across the bank floor to the door and smashes his way out to find police cars lined up in an arc surrounding him and about a dozen cops aiming guns at him.

"Put your hands above you head!" Kal is ordered by them.

In response he bursts into guffaws and holds his sides. "Good one!" he compliments the joke as he wipes a mock tear from his eye.

"Surrender now!"

"How about I go with not a chance you trumped up civil servant!" Kal retorts insultingly.

"I will not repeat myself!"

"Neither will I! You may want to start running now!" Kal advises. Next thing anyone knows is 2 red beams shoot from Kal's eyes hitting one police car causing it to explode and tumble into the air. Kal does the same to the one next to it and the one next to that and again.

"Take him down!" someone shouts and the police, done from scattering for cover, open fire.

Kal rolls his eyes and walks...calmly walks through the fire as the bullets impact harmlessly off his body. He reaches the first police officer and tosses him through the air like a rag-doll. He does the same to every single one of them before he picks up one of the cars he totalled and tosses it aside with ease. He picks up the other 3 and does the same all with deliberate intent and purpose as they completely barricade the street. That'll slow down any reinforcements...and don't worry about their escape. That was planned in advance.

The sound of rotor blades whirling above catches Kal's attention. Police helicopter.

Kal inhales deeply and blows. Winds buffer the helicopter but more than that ice starts to form on its surface and the blades which freeze up and stop.

Kal smirks a little. It's always fun to humiliate the law.

The helicopter starts to fall out of the sky. Kal sighs to himself and supposes he really should catch it before it hits the ground. Say what you wish about him but he isn't a murderer. He zips forward, moving as a blur...only to almost stumble to a halt when the helicopter is caught by someone else. A woman with long, curly ebony hair, dressed in a red armoured vest with silver edging, black star spangled shorts and black boots with a white stripe down the middle.

Kal frowns. Wonder Woman. What is she doing here?

Green chains anchored with weights at the end appear and wrap around Kal. He turns his head to see the Green Lantern float out of the sky.

_'Something is very wrong here,' _Kal thinks to himself. The cops arrival he dismissed as good response time but two members of the Justice League here as well?

No way. Not unless someone tipped them off which would mean they had been set-up. Must have been by the guy who hired them to steal the crystal. Can't be his fellow gang members. Kal's known them for years and why would they set themselves up? No. The only thing that makes sense is that it was the guy who hired them because he has plausible deniability. He was never anywhere near here. Kal doesn't know the reasons why but he'll get them and then he'll make the guy wish he was never born. Kal is not a man who takes this kind of betrayal lightly.

"Do you feel the chains of conscience weighing you down?" Green Lantern asks as he lands on the ground.

One corner of Kal's lips curl up, unseen, behind his mask. "Was that a joke? It was hard to tell," he says.

"And you're going to be doing hard time," Green Lantern insists.

"They don't hire you for your sense of humour that's obvious. In fact I don't know why they hire you and frankly I don't care. Now if you'll excuse me I have better places to be."

Green Lantern laughs. "Yeah? And how are you planning..." He stops when the guy he is trying to catch suddenly breaks free of his chains. "You broke my construct?" he queries in complete bafflement. "How did...?"

Again Green Lantern doesn't get to finish the thought as the guy blurs at him. He barely raises shield in time as a punch smashes into it. The shield breaks but absorbs enough of the energy so that when the punch connects with his face Hal gets to keep his head attached to his shoulders.

The blow is still enough to send him bouncing along the street. He comes to a stop near where Wonder Woman is placing the helicopter down. Once done with that she helps Green Lantern up. "You alright Hal?" she asks.

Hal Jordan shakes his head. "I'm fine but how did he do that?" he still wants to know.

"You're too easily distracted and your constructs require concentration," she criticises Hal's major flaw. "That's why I always beat you and I break your constructs too."

"Yeah but it's easy to be distracted around you. In fact once we deal with this guy how about we go be _distracted _together...and I'm touching your lasso again aren't I?" Hal says, embarrassment slipping into his tone a little because this is not the first time that lasso of hers has made him say something like this.

Diana smiles a little. "Yes," she confirms for the golden rope is brushing against Hal. "And no. We shall be doing nothing together," she assures him but she is certain it won't stop Hal trying as he has been for the last 3 years since the Justice League was formed.

Diana now turns her attention to the man who just punched Hal. This whole situation had been a little strange. Batman had gotten a tip that this bank was going to be robbed and in its safe was something of great power and danger. The details were vague but Batman said he trusted the informant so it was decided she and Hal would deal with the situation. What neither had expected was this man who just easily beat Hal. He must be powerful. Diana will have to be more on her guard.

Kal would like nothing better than to get as far away from these 2 as possible. He had always done his best to avoid drawing the attention of the Justice League. He tended to avoid cities where they were based. He did mostly low level crime that wouldn't draw their attention but now he had no choice. If he left, his friends...and they were his friends, would get caught easily. They were just normal humans. No powers like him.

That means he has to provide enough of a distraction for them to escape.

_'Great,' _he mutters inside his own head. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Surrender now and no-one need be hurt," Wonder Woman commands.

"I've got 3 words for ya princess! The first is 'Go' and the 3rd is 'Yourself'!" Kal shouts at her.

Hal laughs and then quickly covers it by coughing as Diana glares at him with eyes darkened by anger.

Kal doesn't need to fight them he realises. He needs them to pointlessly chase him around. He's confident enough to believe they can't catch him. He interlocks his fingers and cracks his knuckles. "So who wants a concussion first?" he asks, boasting about what he is about to do to get them angry and focussed on him.

"Ooh," Hal mock shivers in fear. "He's faking at being a tough guy to try and scare us."

"Unlike the women you've been with I don't have to fake anything."

A snort of laughter comes from Hal's right and he looks at Diana in complete surprise. "You find that funny?"

Diana sniggers. She can't help it. She knows she shouldn't. A few years ago she would never have even gotten the joke but now she can and it is just...funny!

Kal smirks. Well fun time over he guesses. He accelerates forward in a blur right at the two heroes. Diana and Hal brace themselves...only for Kal to push off and leap over them high and far. He's gambling that they'll follow him and he can them the run around the city.

Kal soars through the air, almost as if he is flying and then he feels the tug. He looks down and sees a golden rope looped around his ankle. "Oh F $%!" he swears as he is yanked and he plummets down to the ground, cratering the road surface.

"Good throw," Hal compliments Diana at the huge cloud of dust that has been kicked up.

"Thank you. I-eeeeeee," her reply is cut off as she is yanked forward hard with incredible strength she had not anticipated. She flies right at the figure she can see standing amongst the dissipating dust. Diana catches the movement of a fist being drawn back. When it comes she's ready and places her hands forward catching the fist and then using it as leverage to push herself up and somersault over the man's head.

She comes down only to be met by a powerful kick to her stomach knocking the wind out of her. She goes careening down the street before she skids to a halt, holding her stomach.

Hera! He could certainly make an impact. That actually hurt. Diana is pretty certain that'll even bruise. Her eyes narrow in renewed focus. This man was not to be taken lightly any more.

Kal unloops the lasso from around his ankle. It is suddenly grabbed from him by a large green hand.

"I'll take that!" Hal says as he snatches Diana's lasso away. That's far too dangerous to be left in some criminal's hands.

Kal's eyes narrow as Wonder Woman and Green Lantern stand either side of him. This was not going to plan. That damn crystal better be worth it. In fact Kal is definitely going to be asking for a raise for all this aggro.

"Wish to reconsider surrendering?" Diana asks him, one last time, before she puts an end to this.

"Only in your dreams princess!"

There is something about the way he says 'princess' that really sticks in Diana's craw. Time for her mercy is over. Time to show this man what an Amazon warrior can do.

That is when the shadow looms over her and next thing Diana knows is a fist, bigger then her, slamming her down into the road. A fist belonging to the colossal redhead known as Giganta, dressed in a way too short pink dress that thankfully alters size with her.

"Diana!" Hal shouts making a move only for a pink energy beam to strike him down.

Hal looks up and sees a figure in a pink and black costume with a pink star on her chest. "Carol," he says in a pain-filled croak.

"Hello lover," Star Sapphire greets him with a sadistic smile.

It's not the Carol he knows. It's a corruption of her but it is still one time love of his life Carol Ferris and Hal always, always hates what comes next.

Back with Giganta she is smashing Wonder Wonder a few more times just for good measure...and payback for all the times the times the annoying stuck-up princess has sent her to jail.

"Gigi!" a voice suddenly yells at her.

Giganta stops. There is only one person who ever called her that. She turns her head and strides over to the mask figure in the road. She shrinks down until she is his height and looks into the eyes. Oh she knows those blue eyes well. Her lips curl up into a smile. "Kal? That you?"

"No. It's the freakin Easter Bunny," he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Giganta smiles brighter than before. "It is you!" she says in pure delight and then wraps her arms around him.

Kal rolls his eyes. "Ok so you do remember we broke up?" he asks her.

"Oh so we had one little fight," Giganta dismisses that.

"6 months ago!" he points out and easily extracts himself from her grip.

Loud coughing interrupts as Star Sapphire looks at Giganta for an explanation as to what is going on.

"We use to date," Giganta explains.

"He does know you use to be a giant gorilla right?" Star Sapphire asks because she always found that a little...odd.

"It never bothered him," Giganta says with a carefree shrug.

"You know I'm standing right here!" Kal complains at being talked about.

"Yes you are," Giganta says giving him a heated look over. She has really missed him.

Kal clamps his hand over his eyes. This day just keeps getting more and more out of hand. "Why are you here Gigi?"

"Orders."

"Orders?" Kal queries that. This set-up he already figured he is going through just got more complicated. "Orders from whom? Grodd?"

"No!" Giganta rejects that vehemently. "That poopy-head almost fried my brain so I don't work for him no more."

"He had to fry your brain before you realised he was no good when I told you that 6 months ago!" Kal yells in frustration. Take a guess what broke them up. Giganta and her loyalty to that crazy gorilla.

"Oh poo to you too!" Giganta says with an angry pout and stamp of her foot

"Do you two need a room?" Star Sapphire says with a smirk.

"Do you need a concussion?" Kal fires back. "I did promise to give someone one."

"Oh you leave her out of this!" Giganta tells him.

"She was the one who put herself in it! And seriously I'm done arguing with you Gi. You chose to stop listening to me!"

"Gee what is this? Lovers' quarrel day," someone quips.

Kal's eyes turn to find a man in a red and gold costume. The Flash. Great. This day just keeps getting better and better. It continues as Martian Manhunter appears and aids Wonder Woman back to her feet. The sounds of wings flapping signals the arrival of Hawkgirl to join the fray. Kal's sharp eyes spot the flash of a black cape down a nearby alley. That would be Batman he's guessing...and to complete the package Kal reckons Aquaman will appear right about...

"Nobody move!" the King of the Seas commands from a rooftop above.

...now!

Aquaman leaps down to the street.

"You are outnumbered and outmatched. Surrender," Wonder Woman orders.

"But Wonder Woman, darling, where's the fun in that?" a voice with an animal like purr asks.

"Cheetah!" It comes out as an angry hiss from Diana's lips due to her hatred of perhaps her most bitter enemy.

The cat-lady that is Cheetah is perched atop a street-light with a sinister grin. "As for being outnumbered you may want to recount," Cheetah adds with a mysterious air.

Suddenly there is a loud grunt and Batman comes flying out the alley followed by one of his foes, Killer Croc. A series of mini harpoons impact around Aquaman as one of his major foes Black Manta steps out from another alley. Behind him stands the huge grey zombie Solomon Grundy, basically the hired muscle.

"Great," Flash mutters. "Now all we need is Captain Cold and this day is complete!" he jests.

"Should be careful what you wish for," the mentioned Captain Cold counters as he appears behind Flash.

"One of these days I will learn to shut my mouth," Flash mumbles to himself.

"Now Wonder Woman," Cheetah address her adversary in a condescending manner. "Who's outnumbered and outmatched now? Why don't you surrender and I'll make your end short and painless," she offers.

"That is not happening!" Aquaman declares. "Justice League. Take them down!"

"Legion of Doom. Attack!" Cheetah commands.

Kal puts a hand to his head and groans as the two opposing forces begun to clash and he mutters to himself, "It's going to be one of _those_ days."

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Of course later in the story it would be explained how Clark survived the explosion and how the aftermath of it sent him tumbling down the wrong path into first off being a petty criminal and through this story joining the Injustice League or Legion of Doom or whatever and whether that was now his fate or could he still find a way back to being Superman. <em>_Thanks to everyone who has written reviews._


	16. UFC: Another Generation

**UFC: Another Generation**

Summary: Set in my Superman Returns verse. Tales of love and adventure as Superman and Wonder Woman's children follow in their parents' footsteps and become heroes.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I use.

Author's Note: The 3rd of my Unfinished Chronicles. To really understand this you have to read my 3 other stories set in this universe I created. Superman Returns: A new Vision, Superboy: Origins of Kon-El and Encounter of the Universes.

* * *

><p>A jewellery store is often a most tempting target for would-be thieves. The smashed in front of one such premises is an ample demonstration. Inside said store are two masked men looking for a way to make easy money as they clean the place out. They are just stuffing their bags when a gust of wind gets their attention. Next they sense the presence of others in the store with them. In an instant both grab their guns spin round and proceed to unload on what they deem intruders on their crime.<p>

Unfortunately for our two thieves their bullets end up impacting on those who are nigh-on invulnerable. Two young people stand there. One male. One female. Both wearing masks. Both dressed in black skin-tight clothing and long black trench coats and on both of the shirts they are wearing in silver a mark all criminal recognise. It is the stylised S worn by Superman. The material their clothes are made of is literally not of this world. It is something from their father's homeworld and given to them by him upon informing him of their wish to do this; fight crime. Both stand there arms folded across their chests in a close imitation of their father's famous stance.

"Now are you guys going to surrender or do we have to do this the hard way?" the young man asks.

The two thieves start to reload their guns causing both teens to simultaneously roll their cerulean blue eyes.

"So whose turn is it?" the young man asks the woman.

"Can't remember," she admits.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" he suggests.

They both put their hands into fists. "On 3," she says.

"1...2...3!" She makes a rock while he makes scissors.

"Ha! I win!" she proclaims.

The man mutters before stepping aside. "They're all yours," he tells her.

The woman steps forward, puts one hand in the other and cracks her knuckles. "Alright whose first?"

One of the men aims his gun at her but she catches his arm and squeezes gently for her but enough for the man to yell out in pain and drop his weapon. She follows it up with a kick to his midsection doubling him over and then a chop to the back of his neck knocking him out.

"Don't move!" the other man yells at her aiming his gun at her although his hand is shaking.

The woman cocks her head at him before her eyes glow. The gun heats up until the man is forced to drop it in pain. He rushes forward and throws a punch which hits her right on the cheek. She can hear the bones in the man's hand break upon her skin. He cradles it in pain.

"What are you!?" he asks in utter terror.

"We are the dreaded Twins of Justice," the young man says mockingly.

The young woman rolls her eyes at that before delivering a nice firm punch to render this guy unconscious too. In a blink of an eye she ties them up and dusts her hand off.

Lara turns to face her twin brother. "Twins of Justice?" she asks disbelievingly.

Jon shrugs. "Sounded better in my head," he explains.

Lara shakes her head as she strides out of the store with her brother following on behind. Police sirens in the distance indicate that it is time for them to go. "Come on. We better go," she tells her brother. "We promised to meet the guys at the bar," she reminds him.

The two twins bend their knees slightly and launch themselves upward so that all the police see are two black blurs flying off into the night sky.

* * *

><p>A short time later sitting at a bar having a drink with his friends is tall, broad shouldered young man with curly dark hair and cerulean blue eyes. He had a chiselled jaw and cheeks and an ability to turn the heads of most young women he meets. It comes from the inheritance of his parents because the man sitting there is Jonathan Kent, son of two of the world's most famous heroes.<p>

He is out with his friends from Metropolis University where he is studying journalism having decided to follow in his father's footsteps. As for the other footsteps, the hero ones his parents had been open minded about whether he wished to do that and had left the decision entirely up to him. Jon certainly understood how his powers could be used to help people and he enjoyed doing so when he could yet he must admit was also happy to simply study and live the life of a normal person...well as normal as it can be for a 19 year old half-Kryptonian half-Amazon.

Not too far away from where Jon is another half-Kryptonian half-Amazon. Her name is Lara Kent and she is Jon's twin sister. Like her brother she too had cerulean blue eyes and physically resembled her mother in many ways which had resulted in many a leering look from men. She too is out with her friends. Unfortunately right now she is having to listen to a couple of them crushing on her twin brother. They are whispering in the belief that she can't hear them but she can due to what she inherited from her father. i.e. his superhearing but even if she only had her mother's hearing prowess that would be sufficient to overhear this conversation.

"Kate you should totally just go over there and ask him out," a blond girl, Ashley, whispers in her friend's ear.

Kate looks over at where Jon is sitting and can feel the heat creep up her neck. Ever since Lara first introduced her brother to her Kate has been seriously crushing on him. God he was gorgeous and her feelings had hit overdrive the day Lara sent her over to Jon's flat to pick up a book and she caught him just out of the shower wearing only a towel. Seriously Kate didn't know that real men were made like that outside of Superman. Jon looked like he was chiselled out of marble or something.

Kate looks back at her friend. "You sure?"

Ashley rolls her eyes. "Well if you don't I'm sure as hell goin' to."

That threat spurs Kate into action. She sure as hell isn't losing out on an actual decent guy to Ashley. She gets up and makes her way over to where Jon is sitting.

Jon's gaze turns as Kate nears him. He thought her pretty but didn't hold out much hope she would look at him as dating material. He had inherited many things from his father. Most of his looks, his powers and unfortunately the tendency to be a bit of shy, but his mother assured him lovable, dork. So when he ends up sitting next to him he is pleasantly surprised. Even more so when she admits to 'liking' him and mentioning that she would like it if they, just the two of them, could go out sometime.

Lara watches on with a slight shake of her head. Honestly how pathetic is this. Her dorky twin brother is getting a girlfriend and here she is alone and single. A thought crosses her head that if they're twins and Jon is dorky does that make her dorky too because that sure would explain the pathetically single status she is currently enduring.

Not that she is desperate or anything. She is an Amazon after all and cows down to no-one.

* * *

><p>Later in the night Lara is still single having shot down like half the men here. Sometimes inheriting the beauty of Aphrodite from her mother is not as much as a gift as one may think. On top of that as much as she likes to tease her brother she will admit they do share many traits. They like the same food, have the same favourite colour and movie and have the same taste in music. They also have the same preferences as it relates to a potential partner; i.e. they have to be female.<p>

It is at that moment a new person enters the bar. A woman with brown hair. Not that that is what is catching Lara's interest...alright it is. The woman is just short of 6 foot and is so obviously in shape and she is definitely attractive but what is more catching of Lara's attention is that she knows who the woman is. She is on the League's so-called Rogue's gallery. She is Vandal Savage's daughter Scandal.

Jon seems to notice her too as he is quickly by Lara's side and they make their way to a quiet corner so they can talk. "Is that who I think it is?" Jon asks his sister in a whisper.

"Yes."

"I thought she was in jail," Jon comments.

"I think she was given a Presidential pardon for doing a 'favour' for the government," Lara recalls reading from a League report. Her and Jon do technically belong to Young Justice which is where she got that information from. By favour what Lara means is something along the lines of Black-Ops. The kind of thing that the government disavows all knowledge of. Something usually morally questionable at best and probably illegal so they hire mercenaries to do it. Mercenaries like Scandal Savage.

"Which means we can't touch her," Jon surmises.

Lara shakes her head. "I don't think so. No. Not unless she breaks the law." And since all Scandal has done so far is sit down and order several drinks that is hardly law breaking.

Jon notices Kate getting ready to leave. Lara notices too. "You better escort her home," Lara tells her brother.

"You sure?" he asks her.

"Yes. I'll keep an eye on our 'friend' over there. Better not make Kate suspicious. Besides it is the only gallant, gentlemanly thing to do to escort your new girlfriend home."

"Um girlfriend may be an overly strong term," Jon says sounding a little uncomfortable. "I mean we haven't even had a first date yet."

"But I'm not wrong about it being gallant. You would have done it if our 'friend' didn't show up."

Yeah he would have. His parents taught him well. "Ok but if you need my help please don't hesitate to shout." He means literally shout since he can pretty much hear his sister anywhere within the city.

Lara assures him that she will although it is doubtful she will need him. Invulnerability can be pretty handy at times.

* * *

><p>Jon escorts Kate home and on the way she ends up wrapping her hands around his arm and leaning into him. "So Lara mentioned that you're both from Kansas," Kate says wanting to start a conversation.<p>

"Um yes. Smallville," Jon answers.

"Never heard of it," Kate admits.

"Yeah. It is kind of...small. Hence the name really but Lara and I actually lived in Metropolis until we were 9."

"You did?"

"Yes. Our father worked for the Daily Planet."

"Oh right. Yes," Kate says suddenly remembering Lara mention that. "Hey did he ever meet Superman?" she asks knowing of Superman's association with the Daily Planet.

Ooh boy. Met Superman? His father is Superman. "Uh I think dad said he did once or twice," Jon decides to go with.

"I bet that would be something wouldn't it? To meet Superman?"

"I'm sure it would be."

"I mean I can barely imagine what the world was like before him. I mean he has been here since before I was even born and don't be jealous or anything but he is still looking pretty fine."

Oh gods! She is crushing on his dad! Ew!

Kate thankfully moves on. "So why did you leave Metropolis?"

"Um my grandmother died and dad decided to retire from being a reporter so it seemed kind of natural for him just to move back to the family home." That is the official reason given. The more real one is that his dad could no longer really hide the fact he was not ageing so the need to move somewhere more isolated was a must. That and his and Lara's powers were growing every year that passed and to be fair the both of them needed more space than you can get in a city so in the end the move to Smallville was a good thing and Jon does love Smallville.

He also loves Themyscira despite the fact when they visit he and his dad are the only males on the entire island. It is bad enough he and his dad are outnumbered by his mother, and his 3 sisters, Lara, Lyta and Martha but add several thousand Amazon 'sisters' to the mix and you get to a whole other ballgame.

Of course the last year has been spent here in Metropolis which he must admit has brought back memories of when he was younger when he did love living here too and he still does love Metropolis.

"Don't move!"

And he would love it more if a mugger armed with a gun didn't just jump out in front of him and Kate. Terrific. Jon tenses up. If he has to use his abilities to protect Kate he will.

"Hand over your money and jewellery!" the mugger demands.

"Jon," Kate whispers in fear.

"It will be alright Kate," Jon assures her.

"Of course it will," the mugger says insincerely. "Just as soon as you hand over your valuables to me."

"You know I always thought men with guns were compensating for something they lack," a distorted female voice mocks.

All 3 turn their heads to find a woman dressed in a green and tan skin-tight costume which is tied up the middle by leather straps to just above her breasts and the costume does little to hide the woman's generous curves. She is wearing a green hood which hides her face in shadow although you can make out green tinted shades underneath covering her eyes. She is also armed with a bow and arrow which is aimed at our resident mugger.

Jon makes the mental note that she is a hell of a lot curvier than he remembers her being last time they met.

The mugger is about to move when the woman pulls her bow string back. "Think it over because trust me I'm faster with this bow than you are with a gun," she warns him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" the mugger angrily demands to know.

The woman smirks. "I'm the Green Arrow."

The mugger makes the attempt to shoot her but true to her word the Green Arrow is faster and her arrow impacts the mugger's jacket sleeve about the wrist and the momentum sends him into the wall of the building they are standing next to. Then as quickly as a normal person can blink a whole array of arrows fly through the mugger's clothes where they loosely cover his body pining him completely to the wall. He ends up cursing loudly until the Green Arrow unleashes another arrow who tip explodes and with perfect aim covers his mouth in a sticky tape like ribbon. "Watch your language," she tells the mugger off before she turns her attention to the two muggees. "You two alright?" she asks them.

"Yes thank you," Jon says in reply.

"You're welcome...stud," she says in a husky, flirty tone.

Jon frowns instantly. Stud? She has never called him stud. Not ever in the 19 years they have known each other and certainly she has never ever used a tone of voice like that. A tone of voice that he is finding incredibly erotic and making his body heat up. Gee you lose touch with your once best friend for a few years and she turns into a sultry heroine.

Jon isn't the only one frowning. Kate is too at this...woman flirting with her brand new boyfriend. Can't these hero types find someone who is not already taken or something. Surely she must have men lining up to date her.

"Keep out of trouble handsome," the Green Arrow says before she disappears down an alley.

'The nerve of that woman,' Kate fumes while Jon gets his phone out to call the police to come for their resident mugger here.

* * *

><p>So Jon's night ends up being a lot longer than he intends after having to file a report with the police before finally seeing Kate home. It is when he is making his own way home that his senses pick up he is being watched from a rooftop above. Being the middle of the night and dead quiet it is easy enough for him to slip into superspeed unseen and shoot up to the roof where he finds the Green Arrow. He lands behind her as she is still looking down for him. "Hello Olivia."<p>

The Green Arrow jumps in surprise before she turns round and pulls her hood off revealing this enormous grin on her face as well as her shoulder length blond hair she inherited from her parents. She takes her shades off revealing the blue eyes of her mother. She is of course Olivia Queen. Daughter of Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance-Queen "Hello Jon. Miss me?" she says just a little bit mischievously.

A wry smile tugs at Jon's lips. Being born not too far apart and considering how close his mother and Olivia's mother were Olivia had ended up his and Lara's best friend. In an instant he has gathered her in his arms giving her a crushing hug and is spinning her around. "What do you think?" he asks rhetorically.

Olivia takes several moments to relish being in the strong muscular arms of a down right gorgeous guy. He may be her best friend, or he was at least, but it doesn't make her blind to how good-looking he is.

Jon too is taking several moments to enjoy the feeling although as he observed earlier Olivia is quite a bit curvier than he remembers her being so he is trying not to enjoy it too much. Otherwise he fears his body may end up reacting in a very embarrassing way. He puts her down and steps back. "You look great," he compliments her.

Olivia spins round showing herself off. "Do you think so?"

"Yeah."

"Dad blew a gasket when he first saw it."

"I can see why," Jon mumbles under his breath as his body appreciates her appearance in a very masculine way.

"What?"

"Nothing! So what brings you to Metropolis? I'm sure it can't be saving helpless farm boys from Kansas from a mugging?"

Olivia smiles wryly now. "Hardly helpless Jon," she remarks knowing full well what he is capable of. "Besides I read the news. It seems Metropolis has two new saviours flying around," she comments knowingly.

Jon shrugs. "It's not much. Just helping when we can."

Olivia smiles at his modesty. God she had almost forgotten how sweet he could be. "Where is your other half?"

Jon frowns. "Please don't use that phrase. It implies Lara and I can't do anything apart."

"Oh come on Jon. Everyone knows you have this weird twin thing. Possibly weirder than Jai and Iris(Wally and Linda's twin children) and that is really saying something considering."

Jon objects to the comparison. "Oh come on Olivia. Lara and I never went through the whole rapid ageing before becoming babies again that Jai and Iris did."

"True," Olivia concedes. "But you and Lara do have this connection. You can't deny it."

No Jon can't deny it but he can explain it. "It is our Kryptonian heritage. A sort of sixth sense that we all have that allows us to sense each other. It is just stronger for Lara and I because we're twins."

"Really? I never knew that," she admits.

"Well that is what happens when you don't drop by for three years."

Olivia sighs sadly. She has missed her friends. "Yeah. I know. I went through a rebellious phase."

"Oh yes I know. Running off to Europe at 16. Trust me I heard all the stories. Saw them all on the news too with your frequent falling out of taxis drunk."

Olivia cringes. Ok even she will admit she let herself fall way off the wagon there. "But you just don't know what it is like Jon to be the daughter of Oliver Queen," she tries to explain. "I had all this expectation dumped on my shoulders to follow in his footsteps and take over Queen Industries and lead it to success. I had to live with that for as long as I can remember and it just got too much alright. I needed to get away. Call it cowardly if you want."

"I won't do that but if you think you have pressure try being the son of Superman and Wonder Woman some time."

"Big difference Jon," Olivia argues. "You got to grow up in seclusion and anonymity of Smallville. I grew up in the full public glare of being the daughter of virtual celebrities. My parents secret identities are more famous than their hero ones."

"My grandmother is a queen and my mother is a princess of a race of warrior woman and I am the only male heir there has ever been. Trust me I know about being in the spotlight."

"Aw poor Jonny. All those women too much for you," she teases.

"They are not just women. They are Amazons. Big difference I can assure you and I am their prince. I mean me. Do I look like a prince to you?"

Olivia cocks her head while she checks Jon out from head to toe. Oh yeah he looks like a prince alright. Her body can certainly appreciate him in a very feminine way from the way it is responding. She tries to ignore it.

Jon meanwhile finds himself blushing under her gaze and runs his hand through his hair in a nervous habit. He decides to change subjects. "So when did you decide to take your father's mantle?"

"When I hit rock bottom and trust me there is not a fun place to be."

Something forms in the pit of Jon's stomach. He thinks it is worry. "What happened?"

"Jon...I...please...the one thing I don't want is you to know where I fell to alright. It is bad enough I have to live with it. I couldn't bear it if you end up thinking less of me."

"Olivia I could never do that. I am your friend. I always have been. Always will be. You know that I would never judge you for a mistake you might have made. People make mistakes. Mom and dad even make mistakes. I make them too. It is part of human nature."

Olivia lips' curl up into a smile. "Do you know how that sounds coming from you of all people?" she teasingly points out.

Jon cocks his head to the side. "I am part human I'll remind you. Besides humanity is more than just biology." Jon moves his way over next to her and takes her hand into his and strokes the back of it gently. "And I promise I'll never think less of you. Now please. Tell me what happened to you."

Olivia sighs, ignores the little goosebumps on the back of her hand and wanders over to the edge of the roof and sits down. Jon sits next to her and waits patiently for several minutes until Olivia summons up the nerve to begin.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Honestly I almost forgot I had written this. In my Encounter of the Universes story I dropped in Clark and Diana's twins Jon and Lara and their partners and after I wrote it I started to write basically how they all hooked up and became heroes in their own right before I lost my inspiration and gave up and this is the opening chapter I came up with. Thanks to everyone who has written reviews.<em>


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